


A Different Fallen Human

by cleopatraslibrary



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series), Undertale (Video Game), Watcher Entertainment RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Undertale Fusion, Established Relationship, Gen, Gender-Neutral Frisk (Undertale), Kid Fic, M/M, Temporary Character Death, pacifist run
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2020-08-23
Packaged: 2021-02-26 11:00:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 45,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21848599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cleopatraslibrary/pseuds/cleopatraslibrary
Summary: The History of Humans and Monsters is lost to time in the human world. All evidence that remains of their existence lies in deep web conspiracies and a few tablets that may have been mistranslated. In this world, knowledge is key; but who can obtain it?Ryan can only be so lucky.*Note to readers: You do not need to have played Undertale to understand any aspects of the story. Everything is explained as relevancy calls for.
Relationships: Ryan Bergara & Frisk, Ryan Bergara/Shane Madej
Comments: 48
Kudos: 80





	1. Setting Sail the Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Established Relationship* tag: the relationship between Ryan and Shane will not be a center focus, but will pop up here and there (and everywhere). It is also stated in the text that the relationship is new, so it will not be overtly love-crazed.
> 
> Now, for the juicy details.
> 
> AAAAAHHHH!
> 
> I'm starting a wip! This will be certainly a different type of wip; I'm not one to intertwine fandoms, but I have an idea for this that just will not go away. I've currently got two other wips for BFU, and this is my first time writing for the Undertale fandom. 
> 
> If you are from the BFU fandom and have never heard of Undertale, I highly recommend it! 
> 
> it's a beautiful, beautiful game, and is only 10 dollars on steam. this story will make sense without playing the game, but, to me, it's one of the most amazing experiences of gameplay you could ever want. if you can't get the game, then i also recommend a playthrough from jacksepticeye or gamegrumps steam train.
> 
> I hope y'all enjoy! I know I'm going to have fun with this.

> **SOUTHERN LOS ANGELES, UNITED STATES, 90038**

“I can’t believe you’re actually going to try to find Mount Ebott,” Shane said, lounging sideways on Ryan’s bed. Around him was everything Ryan was packing, with the suitcase lid pushed on top of him, laying over his stomach. 

“I can’t believe you’re not coming with me,” Ryan countered, picking up a shirt and rolling it up tightly into a small cylinder.

“I would have, and so would the rest of the crew, but…” He scratched the back of his head. He didn’t need to finish. 

The rejection to go was harsh, the request application even laughed at, Devon had said. She was upset on his behalf, but it only incentivized Ryan to actually take some time off after they had finished recording for the rest of the season, to try to make a discovery on his own terms. If nothing came of it, then so be it; but at least he would have tried.

He had to admit, as well; the rejection piqued his curiosity. There was no discernible reason why they wouldn’t let them go, besides it being out of the country. Regardless, it didn’t matter. The bottom line was he was doing this alone.

He would have liked it if Shane came, but there were too many responsibilities he was leaving behind for two weeks for both of them to be gone.

“Yeah. I get it. Plus, you’re going to have to hold down the fort when it comes to Postmortems and the like.”

Ryan put the rolled-up shirt in the suitcase next to the others and Shane caught his hand, flipping it over and revealing his palm. He played with his fingers for a couple seconds before he entwined their fingers together. 

“I support you in this,” Shane said quietly. Ryan startled, glancing over sharply at Shane. He sighed. “I know I’m a skeptic. I know I don't believe in the same things you do; but, remember, I believe _in_ you. I’d love to go -- I hear Whitehorse is beautiful -- but I know you’ll do great there by yourself. You deserve a break, too.” Then, very gently, he pulled his hand up to his lips and kissed his fingertips.

This was new between them, too. Very new. 

So new that the butterflies in Ryan’s lungs stole his breath, and his ability to respond, away. 

Shane gave him a lopsided grin and squeezed his hand before he let go. “C’mon, cryptid hunter. Gotta get you all ready and packed for tomorrow’s flight.”

Ryan nodded, smiling back at him. 

This was going to be a good trip, with or without BuzzFeed’s endorsement.

And if he just so happened to find something, then it’s their loss. 


	2. The Journey and Reckoning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here we have our first encounter: frisk!

> **WHITEHORSE, YUKON Y1A 6E6, CANADA**

“Thank you, I appreciate your help,” Ryan said to the woman at the counter. He glanced at her nametag. Nicole. He hefted his equipment bag over his shoulder and pushed his suitcase onto its wheels.

“Not a problem,” she replied. “Enjoy your stay in Whitehorse!”

Ryan gave her a small smile, before pulling away from the Help desk. He meticulously took in his surroundings, following her directions on how to get to the front entrance. The building was filled with people, boisterous laughter, harried parents, huddled families. The afternoon was bustling, and Ryan just wanted to relax and get away for the rest of the day.

He spotted the large windows Nicole had been talking about and Ryan cut through the crowd, making his way towards the doors. Sunlight filtered through the windows, the star hanging over the horizon of the mountainside, and it felt peaceful.

Ryan pushed open the glass door, the sudden glare shining directly in his face. He squinted, before his eyes adjusted to the brightness. He didn't know what he was expecting; the sun was clearly out and about. The air was cool and crisp against his skin and it was a wonderful relief after being inside of the stuffy airport. He tugged hard on his suitcase, so it didn't get stuck on the metal frame of the door.

Taxi cabs lined the entryway and he bee-lined towards the closest one, “Premier Cabs” written on the side of a white car. He knocked on the window.

The cab driver rolled down his window. “Hey, what d’y’need? You need a lift?”

“Yeah, to…” He reached into his pocket to grab the address.

“No need to worry about that, get on in, then give me the place,” he said.

“Thanks!” Ryan gave him a grin as he rolled up the window. He opened up the backdoor, putting in his bags first, then sliding in smoothly after, pulling the door shut. He reached around in his pockets, before he grabbed the loose leaf of paper he wrote down his information on. “I’m going to the Town and Mountain Hotel.”

“You got it. It’s pretty nice there.” He shifted his gears and smoothly pulled out of the car way. “So, what brings you to Whitehorse?”

“I’m doing a piece on the monster conspiracy,” Ryan replied, watching his reaction. He knew that many others in this area would probably be like minded about the conspiracy and he wanted to watch how he would respond.

Surprisingly, he laughed. “Really? Those rumors are still in pop culture? That was huge when I was in school, and that was quite a while ago.”

At least he wasn’t hostile. And it was definitely a step up if he was calling them “rumors” instead of “crazy conspiracy theories.” “I think maybe social media platforms and the more wide-sharing forums online brought about the resurgence of the theory, if I’m honest. It might have died off for good if those hadn’t been involved.”

The cab driver looked at him in his back mirror. “Now, I wouldn’t underestimate word of tongue.”

“Oh, well, yeah,” he quickly agreed, sheepishly. The cab driver looked away and Ryan scratched the back of his head indiscriminately. “I just think the widespread, easily accessible knowledge spreads it around better.”

“Now that I concur with you about. Now, tell me: why does that bring you to Whitehorse, Yukon? I thought the last believed location of Mount Ebott was somewhere in Europe?” He made an abrupt turn and added, “Sorry ‘bout that.”

“You’re good. And that was theorized and reported on, but people searched those areas after that, and they never found anything. I’ve been doing research myself, which led me here.”

“You basing your things around those old Tablets?” he asked.

“I mean, what else could I go off of, y’know?” Ryan replied, trying for a jovial tone. It didn’t work, coming out a bit more somber.

“I’m curious: where do you think the mountains located?”

“Don't laugh, but I’m thinking Canyon Mountain.”

Ryan watched as his eyebrows scrunched up. “Isn’t that a bit small?”

“It is, but it matches every aspect the Concealment Tablet.” Ryan had memorized the five remaining Tablets months ago when he started his research on the conspiracy. “‘Locked away in the eternal seasons, fiery heats of Hell and burrowing cold winters, the humans forged the magical barriers which divides their anarchy from our small society; locked they be in Mount Ebott.’”

“Hm, it’s certainly interesting. Good luck getting over there. And remember what the legends say: all who try to climb Mount Ebott fade away!” He maneuvered the car off to the side of the road, pulling up next to a pale pink building. “Here we are!”

“Thank you! It’s been good talking to you,” Ryan said as he got out and started gathering his bags.

“Same to you. I might be seeing you around!”

**💙**

> **WHITEHORSE, YUKON Y1A 2B6, CANADA**

Carefully, he set the camera on top of the tripod, before pressing “Record.” Ryan checked the picture; the studio lights reflected poorly against the beige wall, but the pictures of the tablet he had printed and the map he’d hung up before toned down the brightness quite a bit. Edits could be made to the footage as well if need be. He made his way back to the corner, sitting down at the table. He had his script ready.

He glanced at the viewfinder and made sure it was blinking red before he picked up his script. He read it over a few times, before he put it back down and addressed the camera.

“Hey there, to believers and skeptics alike. I am Ryan Bergara, and today we’re going to be going a little bit off script and a bit more relaxed. I will be discussing the conspiracy of Monsters and the supposed History of Monsters and Humans.

“For those of you who don't know, the conspiracy of Monsters and Humans is based off of the ancient Tablets that were found in North America. Archaeologists have substantiated that the clay Tablets are thousands of years old, but have not discussed either way, regarding whether the conspiracy is true. Historians have claimed the conspiracy is preposterous, as there are no other types of recordings dealing with Monster and Human history.

“This hasn’t stopped or dissuaded theorists, like me, from trying to figure out where the alleged Mount Ebott lies and theorizing whether or not it is actually possible for this theory of monsters to exist.”

Ryan took a breath, picking up his water bottle from the floor and gulping some down, swishing it around in his mouth before swallowing.

Just then, his phone went off in his pocket.

Ryan pulled it out, smiling to himself when he saw it was Shane. He declined it and quickly texted, _Recording. Will call later._

_Ok, will talk to u soon_ , came his reply, and Ryan pocketed his phone, feeling a bit more energetic.

“Now, onto the actual theory itself. It claims that Humans and Monsters once co-inhabited the planet, where they lived mostly in peace. Then, one day, war struck, and Monsters were sealed underground in the supposed Mount Ebott, where fire and winter live together.

“This is as written on the Five Tablets, as conspiracy forums have dubbed them.

“The first one is the ‘History’ Tablet. Quote, ‘Long ago, two races ruled over Earth: Monsters and Humans,’ end quote. The second one is called the ‘Inevitability’ Tablet by some, or the ‘Tragedy’ Tablet by others; quote, ‘One day, war broke out between the two races,’ end quote. The third is the ‘Battle’ Tablet. Quote, ‘After a long battle, the humans were victorious,’ end quote. The fourth is the ‘Magick’ Tablet, which is more controversial than the others. Quote, ‘they sealed the monsters underground with a magic spell,’ end quote. And the final tablet is called the ‘Concealment’ Tablet: quote, ‘Locked away in the eternal seasons, fiery heat of Hell and burrowing cold winters, the humans forged the magical barriers which divides their anarchy from our small society. Locked they be, in Mount Ebott,’ end quote.”

He gave the camera a look, raising his eyebrows. “Now, these Tablets are under lock and key; it’s incredible they’ve been preserved as well as they have. It has been concluded that because of the state of the clay and the clear signs of age could not be in any way replicated. The Tablets themselves have an odd history, being discovered only in 1877, by a woman named Emelia Whittaker. She found the Tablets and, despite not understanding the language engraved, decided to take of them. They were passed on throughout her family for a couple decades, before someone decided to bring them to the Archaeological Institute of America, where they were able to translate it from a Cherokee Syllabary.

“One theory regarding the story depicted on the Tablets is that a Native American in the Cherokee tribe actually just happened to engrave history between Native Americans and colonizers on these specifically older clay tablets, but the theory falls apart because of what one archaeologist wrote.” Ryan flipped the script pages, looking for Desmond. “Andrew Desmond wrote, in rebuttal to one Massachusetts papers article, detailing the theory I am discussing now, quote, ‘It is easy to say the tablet have been newly engraved when you are not knowledgeable about the clay used, or the detailing still inscribed. However, as an expert in this field and someone who has specifically studied these Tablets, I am in a position to say it is simply not possible for clay tablets thousands of years old to be carved freshly even two hundred years ago.’ End quote.”

Ryan paused, picking up his water to take another sip. He stretched out his back and arms, twisting and resituating himself in his chair. He was starting to get tired again, and he wasn’t even nearly done yet. The theories were even more mentally taxing than usual; probably because he didn’t have Shane to bounce ideas off of.

“They are strong words from the social scientist.

“Another theory is that they were just mistranslated. People have theorized that the tablets true meaning have been lost to time and we can never understand what they actually mean; but there is an easily cohesive story you can put together from the tablets. Now, if it were complete nonsense, that would be one thing; but seeing as these Tablets are easily understood in this context, to me, this theory is very thin and lackluster.

“Now, let’s move onto the contents of the Tablets. The initial theory of monsters has sprouted other controversial theories and those two big controversies are specifically about the Magick Tablet and the Concealment Tablet.

“It is widely known that magic, in very simple terms, does not exist. There are instances of miracles within religions, and natural remedies for illnesses and ailments, but the outright magic that is discussed is simply not real by our standards of society right now.

“People have tried to recreate the ‘force’ this would take, to create this type of barrier in the first place, but it’s simply illogical and cannot be rediscovered, if it was ever a thing at all – and scientists concur that it was not.

“The Magick Tablet doesn’t have much use, but the main Tablet I will be focusing on today is the Concealment.

“Many people have theorized where Mount Ebott may actually be. One considerable theory is the Kier—uh, shit.” He laughed at himself, picking up the script, and repeating, “One considerable theory is the Kerið crater in Iceland. It includes every aspect of the “fiery hell” – volcanic rock – and “winters” – the temperature there – that is needed. In Scotland, there are even legends of different types of monsters that once roamed that area.

“However, this theory can only be inconclusive as the legend goes: “all who climb Mount Ebott disappear and are never seen again.” That could be more a symptom of pop culture and less about the actual Tablets, but Kerið crater is relatively busy as a tourist location and there haven’t been any reported missing persons that would any way relate to Mount Ebott. The Tablets were also found in a Native American language, so it wouldn’t make sense as to why these two places are somehow connected.

“There are other locations that have been theorized about, but I will not be discussing those. I will be discussing where I believe Mount Ebott is: Canyon Mountain of Yukon, Canada.

“It fits all of the geographical necessities to qualify; there is an ancient volcanic activity underneath the mountain, the temperature qualifies snowfall, and it’s next to a smaller society: Whitehorse. The smaller society part may not be important, but I thought it might when looking for a location.

“I will be looking for Mount Ebott, starting…” He held up his fingers and snapped. “Now!”

He sagged in his seat. That took longer than he thought it would.

💙

> **WHITEHORSE, YUKON Y1A 2B6, CANADA**

“Hey, Ry,” Shane answered as soon as Ryan called back. “How’d your shoot go?”

“Great,” he replied. “I’ve got all of the footage I’ll need for the theories, then I’ll be able to actually film and record the woodlands and mountainside for the rest of the week.”

“Hey, that’s great! You still wonderin’ whether or not to post it through BuzzFeed?”

Ryan nodded, even though he couldn’t see him. “Yeah, I’m not going to. I’m going to post it on my personal channel. I might change my mind if I can’t find anything, because it’d make a good episode; we’ll just have to re-record the whole spiel. You know how it is.”

“I do, I do.”

There was a beat of awkward silence.

“Alright, well, I’m gonna head to bed. I’m tired, so.”

“Alright,” Shane echoed. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow?”

“Of course. Talk to you, big guy.”

“I’ll hear from ya, little guy.”

Ryan hung up and plugged his phone in, setting it next to his contact container. He undressed and slipped into bed; the room was already dark. The red quilt was plush and comfortable, and Ryan didn’t have any trouble falling asleep.

💙

> **WHITEHORSE, YUKON 867, CANADA**

Ryan scrolled through Lyft on his phone, typing in the Grey Summit Mountain Trail. He put down his phone as it searched for a ride to pick him up and he double-checked that he had everything. He had his camera, a first aid kit, some extra water and granola bars, a tripod, his glasses in a case, and some extra memories in case if he needed them today. His phone notified him that he had a ride and he slung his backpack across his back and hurried out, flicking off the lights and locking the door on his way out.

He went downstairs and waited for the Lyft. He was dressed for the hike; no bright lemon-green vests today, just some hardy plaid, good leather, and tie up boots.

He felt like a real ghost hunter.

Ryan smiled to himself at the thought, trying not to snort as a sleek white car pulled up in front of him. He opened the backdoor as the driver asked, “Ryan?” He nodded. “To Summit Mountain Trail?” He nodded again. “Then we’re off.”

It was a smooth ride through the town, not catching any red lights. Ryan watched the scenery as they drove over the short bridge and went straight. He decided when he came back tomorrow, he would record the setting. It would make a nice prologue before getting straight into the forest. The driver made a sharp left and soon pulled onto Grey Mountain Road, where Ryan knew it was a direct ride from there.

“So, what brings you here?”

“Needed a break from life,” Ryan fibbed. Only a little bit, though. He was taking a break. He was just… doing work related things while on said break.

“Ah, I get that. Well, Whitehorse is a great place to relax. Pretty small town, but very lively.”

“I’ve noticed! It is really nice here.” They passed a Rifle Club. “Hey, do you know if many people go to that?”

“Oh, I dunno. I’m not a big shooter myself. Are you from the States?” he asked.

“Yeah. Do I stick out like a sore thumb?” Ryan asked.

“Just a bit,” he said, and Ryan laughed. They sat in a comfortable silence for a while. He went on his phone and gave him a five-star rating and added his tip.

The road started curving a bit and Ryan looked out the window. The hilly mountainside was right next to them, the trees seeming to glow under the sun. There was a speck of purple and blue in the distance and Ryan frowned, squinting at the rapidly growing form of color. He realized it was a kid, running up the mountain. What were they _doing_?

“Hey! Can you stop here?”

“Why, what’s wrong?”

He didn’t reply, staring as the kid paused, turning around to look at the car, before they took off quicker. Ryan stared with wide eyes, panic settling in his throat like it belonged there. He put his phone in his breast pocket underneath his jacket. The car slowed to a stop and he didn’t hesitate to open the door. “Sorry, I’m getting off here!” Ryan jumped out of the car with his backpack securely on his back as he set off sprinting after the kid. Unease settled in the pit of his stomach and he was worried.

Ryan, belatedly, was glad he had been working on his endurance running, as he climbed up the side of the mountain. “Hey, kid! What are you doing?”

They were a good twenty feet ahead of Ryan and they finally came to a stop. Ryan picked up the pace, jogging through the underbrush.

“Kid! What’re– where are you going?”

They turned around, looking at Ryan, and with wide eyes, he realized they were crying. He slowed his pace, now only about seven feet away. He glanced around; there was a wide, round cavern right next to the child.

“Who are you?” they asked, their lip quivering harshly.

Ryan didn't know what to say. “Maybe someone who can help,” he offered, extending a hand.

Helplessness and, worst, hopelessness, radiated off the kid, and Ryan was _scared_. He inched closer. Five feet away.

“No one can help me. Not anymore,” they said as they took a step back towards the cavern’s entrance.

Ryan shouted as the kid started to slip, closing the distance between the two of them, and pulling the kid against his chest.

But it was too late.

Ryan wrapped himself around the kid, holding their head against his chest as they fell down deep, deep, deeper into the unknown cave.

There was a sickening crunch as they landed on the ground and Ryan stared up at the sky too far above to pull themselves back up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [ Here](https://aminoapps.com/c/undertale/page/blog/where-is-mt-ebott/J18s_duPz8jJjn6wbNwgqpKJ77ErnY1) is where you can find the theory of where Mount Ebott is actually located discussed in the chapter. The other research about Canyon Mountain in Yukon was done by me. [ Here](https://chis.nrcan.gc.ca/volcano-volcan/can-vol-en.php) is where you can find information about volcanic activity in mountains in Yukon.
> 
> Some of the references had to be made up, one of the tablets, Andrew Desmond, et cetera, but that's what happens sometimes when necessary.
> 
> Also. Oh no! A cliffhanger! Literally! 
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed! Please comment and leave me feedback, I love hearing from you all. 
> 
> Have a good night/day 💙


	3. The Burdening Ruins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryan falls down with the child. Together, they must venture through the Ruins of the underground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *note: you do not have to have played undertale to understand the story. it certainly helps, but ryan will be learning the rules of the "game" along with the readers.

> **???, YUKON, CANADA**

For a long few moments, Ryan didn’t move, and neither did the kid. His arms were still curled around them protectively, and slowly, very carefully, he began to unwind himself from the kid’s tight grasp. He looked to the side and noted, with a touch of relief, that the flower bed they landed on broke their fall. It could have been worse.

He breathed out.

It could have been much worse.

They fell into a ravine. What the fuck were they going to do? How were they going to get out?

Was he going to see his family again? His friends? Shane? Hell, he wouldn’t even mind meeting with BuzzFeed executives–

He pushed those thoughts away. He couldn’t—No. He _wouldn’t_ think about them.

It was too quiet in the cavern, stifling. He stared up at the tiny patch of skylight above; there was no way they could climb these walls. They would have to find another way out.

But he couldn’t think about that, either.

What he did have to think about was the kid in his arms. They were his priority now. He had to keep them safe. He would return them safely to the surface; he was determined to.

“Are you hurt?” he asked quietly. The kid tensed up, before, hesitantly, Ryan could feel them shaking their head no against his chest. He let out a sigh of relief and, trying to lighten the mood for their sake, he said, “That’s good. Now, another question: am I hurt?”

He relaxed his hold around the kid and started wiggling around, inhaling abruptly when there was a sharp pain in his back. The kid jumped up at his wince, their eyes wide with panic.

“Can you move?” they asked, their voice laced with thick guilt.

“Whoa, hey now,” Ryan said soothingly. He pulled himself upright, squinting around the darkened cavern. He blinked a couple of times when one of his contacts went a little gummy in his eye. “I’m okay, see? No need to worry.” He flexed his toes. Yeah, he was alright. “I can even wiggle my toes!” He shrugged off his backpack, and said, “Let’s see what broke in my bag.”

The kid knelt down beside him, waiting silently as he rummaged through the bag. “Hm, my glasses’ case is fine, my water’s fine, the snacks are a little crumbled, but I think we can make do,” he said, winking at the kid. They let out a little, hesitant laugh and Ryan didn’t stop himself from giving them an encouraging smile. He wanted to earn this kid’s trust, especially if they were going to be trapped down here together, with them relying on him.

Ryan couldn’t let himself panic at the thought – he couldn’t take care of himself on a good day, his mind insisted – not when the kid was right there. He needed to plan, but he needed to figure out what he still had. “Ah, here we are.” He pulled out his camera, the nose completely shattered and the glass in pieces. “This is the bad guy that hurt me. Wow, that sucked.”

“I’m sorry,” the kid said, their voice heartbreakingly sincere.

“It’s alright. Cameras can be replaced. People, on the other hand,” he pointedly tilted his head towards them, “cannot.” He put the camera back into his bag. “What’s your name?”

“My name… my name is Frisk,” they said, their voice more timid than before.

He smiled and started shifting around on the bed of flowers. “That’s a great name. I’m Ryan. Though the circumstance is a bit wonky, it’s still nice to meet you.” He stuck out a hand for Frisk to shake.

They squinted at Ryan for a few seconds, before they grabbed it and shook, giving him a wide smile. “Right back at you,” they replied.

The sun glowed down on them and Ryan took in Frisk. They were a small kid, no older than 12. They had curly brown hair and a warm complexion. They wore a blue and purple striped sweater and leather boots – it looked like they were preparing to go for a hike.

His heart ached for a moment, before he dismissed the thought. He could think about that later.

Ryan straightened his back a little and pushed himself up, groaning dramatically as he stood up. “Ugh, I’m getting old,” he said. He stepped out of the flowerbed and stretched out his arms, cracking his joints. “Well, what do you say Frisk? Shall we go explore the cavern a bit? See if we can find any immediate ways up to the surface?”

God, the hesitancy Frisk had with everything made Ryan wonder what they’d been through. Right now, that wasn’t important. What _was_ important was Frisk standing up, nodding, and slipping their hand into Ryan’s.

He was determined to get them to the surface safely. On his integrity, he would.

It would be so much easier if he could make a quick phone call–

“My phone! I completely forgot about my phone!” Ryan could have hit himself. Not letting go of Frisk’s hand, he hoisted his backpack onto his shoulder and pulled his phone out of his breast pocket. The connection was dead, which wasn’t really surprising, but, “I still have a ninety-seven battery charge, so if we can find higher ground, I might be able to call out.”

“That’d be a good plan,” Frisk murmured.

Ryan grinned down at them. “It would! Alright, let’s get this show on the road.” He put his phone in his pocket, letting it settle against his side.

The cave was narrow and dark, and though Ryan looked for other passages, there was only the main narrow pathway made in the stone. He looked back at the flowerbed; buttercups grew clustered on a mound of raised dirt. It must’ve fallen down from the surface and taken root down here.

Frisk tugged hard on his hand and Ryan turned back around, staring at the pewter-colored archway.

“Holy…” Ryan stared at the columns in awe. This was clearly man-made. Or, more likely, monster made.

Holy shit.

“Sorry, Frisk, I have to…” He pulled out his phone and swiped the camera open, starting a recording immediately. He held the lens out in front of him, pointing it at himself. “Hi, guys. There was a bit of a mishap and I’ve fallen into a part of the mountainside. I’m not hurt, but look at this…” He turned the camera onto the pillars. “This is incredible. There might be actual monster life down here. We’ll have to see. I’ll keep you guys updated.”

“YouTube channel?” Frisk asked. Ryan chuckled as he put his phone back in his pocket.

“Yeah, sorry. It’s part of my job, and all that.”

They nodded very seriously. “Are you ready to go through?”

“I’ve never been more ready for anything in my life,” he replied. And, to his not-so-surprise, he meant it. A thought occurred to him then. “If… If there actually are monsters down here, I don't know if they’re hostile or not.” Ryan knelt down in front of Frisk and looked them in the eye. “I’ll protect you. You may not need it at times, but I promise; anything that wants to get you will have to go through me first. Okay?”

Frisk looked down at their joined hands and nodded. “I’ll protect you, too,” they said, and Ryan smiled.

“It’s a deal.”

Frisk smiled back.

Ryan stood up and together, they walked through the archway.

In front of them was another golden flower. Frisk kept walking but stopped suddenly when its face popped up and greeted in a high pitched, squeaky voice, “Howdy! I’m Flowey. Flowey the Flower.”

It was a monster!

He could question it and get answers about if there are others! But for some reason, Ryan’s skin crawled. He tightened his hold on Frisk and inched closer to them.

“You two must be new to the underground, aren't cha? Golly, you must be so confused.” The inflection in its voice didn’t change, keeping that same cheery manner. “Someone oughta teach y’all how things work around here! I guess little old me will have to do. Ready? Here we go!”

The cavern darkened into a pitch black until the only thing visible was Flowey. It winked at them. Ryan’s heart skipped a beat and he felt, strangely, that if he held onto his goals, he would persevere. Determination would guide them and his integrity would get them through.

In front of them, two hearts appeared, one a rich red, and the other a royal blue. Ryan knew which was his. He shifted to the right, and the heart followed his movements.

“See your heart? That’s your soul, the very culmination of your being! Your soul starts off weak, but can grow strong if you gain a lot of L.V. What’s L.V. stand for? Why, LOVE, of course! You want some LOVE, don't you?”

Frisk lifted their free hand and their red heart rose higher. “Wow,” they murmured. Ryan couldn’t help but agree silently.

Simultaneously, the hearts began to move closer together without any guidance from either Ryan or Frisk. They both watched as they pressed in close and fused together, the still-fully red heart now emitting a haze of blue, a pale purple glowing around the edges.

They both turned to each other. They hadn’t expected that.

Neither had Flowey.

“How did you–?!” Its face twisted into an unsettling smile. “It doesn’t matter how! I’ll share some LOVE with you. Down here, we share LOVE through…” Small white pellets rose up from Flowey, spinning wildly. They were pointed directly at the heart.

It was magic! Ryan could hardly believe it, and yet, the proof was right there. It didn’t look harmless, though, like a few had theorized about magic; if anything, it looked threatening, and lethal.

“... little, white, friendliness pellets! Are you ready?”

Frisk nodded, but Ryan remained wary. This didn’t feel right.

“Move around! Collect as many as you can!”

The pellets – no, _bullets,_ Ryan suddenly, horrifyingly, realized – shot towards Frisk and Ryan’s eyes widened, letting go of their hand and jumping in front of them and the heart. He opened his arms, closed his eyes and inhaled sharply as they tore through his flesh, oh _fuck_ , and ripped tiny holes in the backpack. His knees buckled and he fell forward completely, Frisk frantically touching his face.

God, it burned.

“Hee hee hee,” the flower laughed. Ryan cringed in pain. “You idiots, with your sentiment. In this world…” Ryan forced his eyes open, looking back at the flower. A menacing smile spread over its face. “It’s kill or be killed! How could anyone pass up an opportunity like this?!”

The white bullets materialized again, this time completely surrounding Ryan and Frisk. There was no place to run away; no place to hide.

Ryan pulled Frisk into his grasp, in a desperate fearful embrace, despite his flesh screaming in protest. “Tuck your hands in front of you, against my chest,” he urgently whispered, using his hands to shield the back of their head. They did as he said, burrowing into his jacket. He pressed his cheek against their fluffy brown hair and said, “Close your eyes!” as he did the same.

The flower laughed again, and Ryan tensed, bracing for impact.

It never came.

There was a squeaky screech and a flash of light, and a soft warmth settled over his skin, his sounds tingling as the pain faded away. He breathed out, sagging against Frisk in relief.

“Are… are you okay?” they asked quietly.

“Yes,” he whispered back, shifting and turning their hold of each other into a true embrace.

“Oh… that’s good, then,” they replied, and returned the hug with vigor.

Beyond them, Ryan heard footsteps coming closer. “What a terrible creature, torturing such…” Ryan looked up at the new monster walking forward, cupping Frisk’s head again against his chest. They shifted, and he could tell they were looking at the monster as well.

From where they sat, curled together, she – _she?_ – stood an imposing figure. She had snow white fur and tiny, thin horns that came from her forehead, along with a short snout which curved into a small smile. She exuded a motherly concern, her eyes a warm brown, and she wore a deep purple dress with an odd insignia on the front.

“Oh…” she murmured. “Are you a family?”

Her voice was sad, and her eyes down turned, as if unable to look at the pair of them.

Ryan glanced down at Frisk. They were watching her with compassionate eyes. “No,” they said. “We’ve only just met.”

Ryan nodded in concurrence. She seemed to perk up a bit at that.

“Do not be afraid, my children.” He startled at the endearment, though Frisk positively glowed. “I am Toriel, the caretaker of the Ruins. I pass through the place every day to see if any humans have fallen down.”

“Do humans fall down here a lot?” he asked. Her face darkened.

“No, not usually. Every so often, however, someone falls; until now, they have always been…”

“Alone?” Frisk filled in.

“Yes, alone!” Toriel repeated, though she gave Ryan an unreadable look. “You two are the first to come down here in a long time.” She gave them a smile, and it felt like Ryan’s soul was lightening. “Come! I will guide you through the catacombs.”

Slowly, Ryan and Frisk started disentangling themselves from one another. Mysteriously, the heart – their souls, if Flowey was to be believed – seemed to have vanished, but, oddly, Ryan felt it was fine wherever it was; felt it was _safe_ wherever it was. Frisk stood up and Ryan did the same, his back cracking as he stretched.

He touched the areas on his skin he knew had been torn open before, but the skin was completely healed. They weren’t even any blisters or felt tender to the touch. “Did you… heal me?” Ryan asked Toriel.

She nodded. “I did. Magical food and healing magic both can counteract all the damage done by magical attacks.”

“Huh, that’s good to know.” He patted his pocket. His phone was still there. Good. But, his bag… “Hey Frisk, can you see if there’s any big holes in my backpack?”

“Yeah!” Frisk walked behind Ryan, inspecting the bag thoroughly. “Hm, it seems there are a few holes, but nothing should fall out. They’re pretty high up.”

“When we get near home, I can stitch it up for you, or give you the supplies to do it yourself,” Toriel said.

“I’d appreciate it, ma’am.” He smiled at her and Toriel’s widened in return.

“Follow me, my children,” she said kindly. Ryan looked up ahead. Another archway – this one a rich violet – stood proudly at the end of the cavern. He held out his hand for Frisk to take and couldn’t contain his grin as they immediately grabbed a hold of it. They started walking forward.

“So, Ms. Toriel,” Ryan started.

She interrupted with a laugh. “Just call me Toriel, child.”

“Alright, Toriel,” he said. They went through the archway. “You said your caretaker of the – woah.”

While the cavern had clearly been modeled and renovated in the past, this was clearly a well taken care of room. The walls sparkled a bright magenta as if newly polished and just in front of them was a double winding, marble staircase. Vermillion leaves littered the ground in a purposeful pattern.

The looming shadows of the Ruins loomed above Ryan, and he was filled with determination. A healing sensation washed over him and he felt renewed.

Frisk squeezed his hand.

So were they.

💙

> **THE RUINS, MT. EBOTT, YUKON, CANADA**

“Welcome to these Ruins, my children,” Toriel said. “Allow me to educate the two of you of the nature and operation of the Ruins.”

They stood a few paces away, on the pathway, from six buttons. There were three columns of two, the middle column placed on top of a patch of broken pathway.

Toriel walked across four of them, avoiding the two in the middle. Then, she clicked a switch. “The Ruins are filled with puzzles. Ancient fusions between diversions and door keys. In order to move freely throughout the Ruins, you must be able to solve them room to room. Please become acquainted with the sight of them.”

Ryan stepped forward as Toriel went through the next doorway. Frisk let go of his hand to look at the buttons, while he made his over to the sign.

He pulled out his phone and swiped open the camera, pressing the red record button. He cleared his throat and – in his theory voice – intoned the sign aloud. “‘Only the fearless may proceed. Brave ones, foolish ones, walk not the middle road.’” He took a few steps back, making sure to capture the brilliant radiance of the purple brick and the carefully carved hint. “I’ll record more as we– as I,” he corrected, causing Frisk to look up at him, “make progress.”

He stopped the recording and tucked the phone away.

“Do you… not want me in the video?” Frisk asked. Their eyes were a bit too wide for comfort.

“I do!” Ryan quickly reassured. “It’s just… you’re a kid, you know?” They raised their eyebrows. “Okay, well yeah, obviously, but…” The tension broke as Frisk laughed. Ryan grinned at them; a bit relieved they weren’t hurt. “I was going to ask you later, if you wanted to be in the video. It’s a privacy thing, you know? Even if you do want to be in the video, I can introduce you later. I’m not vlogging everything that goes on down here, but I want you to be comfortable while we’re walking through here. You get what I’m saying?”

“Yeah,” they said, nodding. “If I wasn’t comfortable with the camera, then it would have made it awkward, so better to ask later while still getting usable videos now while walking through the Ruins.”

Ryan stared at them, before slowly nodding his head. “Damn, kid, you really know how to hit the nail on the head.” They nodded again, giggling. He reached out, ruffling their hair. “C’mon, I think we understand how puzzles work. Let’s go through.”

Frisk grabbed his hand and pulled him through the next doorway, laughing at him when he stumbled. “Yeah, ha ha, very funny,” he said, smiling despite himself.

Toriel gave them a fond look from where she stood patiently. “There are a few switches in this room. To continue, you must flip them. I’ve labelled the ones which need to be switched.”

Ryan caught sight of the two switches, both marked with golden markers. “You get the first one and I’ll grab the second?” he offered. Frisk nodded, letting go of him and running across the first short bridge. He followed Toriel over the second bridge, listening to the soothing sound of the rushing water, and splitting away from her to press the second switch. He eyed the third switch off the pathway, but he didn’t bother trying it. He was sure she would have told them about it.

There was a loud clanging and the spikes in front of the exit to the room receded back into the ground.

“Splendid, my children. I am proud of you! Let us move to the next room!” she said. Frisk skipped up next to Ryan and they followed her through the door.

It was a smaller room, but this time, there was a stuffed mannequin standing off to the side of the pathway.

“As humans living in the Underground, monsters may attack you. Both of you must be prepared for this type of situation. However! Worry not, my children. This process is simple. When you encounter a monster, they may try to fight you. If they try to fight you, strike up a friendly conversation! This will quickly defuse the tension, as well as stall for time. While I may not always be here to intervene, I will resolve the conflict when I can. Here,” she said, sweeping open her arms. “Practice by talking to the dummy.”

“Is the dummy a monster?” Ryan asked Toriel.

Her brow furrowed. “... No? It is simply a dummy.”

Ryan’s face heated and Frisk giggled, nudging him on the side. Together, they walked up to the dummy, not so apprehensive anymore. Their shared heart began to glow between them as they got closer – their shared soul, Ryan amended.

“Hello,” Ryan greeted. He felt like an idiot, if he was honest. Frisk waved shyly next to him.

“ . . . ”

The dummy didn’t reply. Should they have expected him to? It didn’t seem much for conversation.

Nonetheless, Toriel seemed pleased, clapping her paws together in a muted delight. She smiled at them. “Oh, very good! You both are very good.” She turned on her heels and moved onto the next room.

Frisk hurried to follow her, but Ryan stayed where he was, staring at the dummy. They stared each other down, gazing at each other for a long moment…

The tension cleared.

Ryan gave the dummy a little pat on the head and moved forward after the two others, ducking under the short doorway. Frisk was walking alongside the vines, feeling around beneath the leaves on the walls.

“Ah, there you are! Now, there’s another puzzle in this room. I wonder if you can figure it out?” she asked rhetorically. She gave him a secret smile and he looked around, the only thing sticking out to him was the zigzagging pathway. Toriel looked like she was ready to move on. Ryan went to the other vines, not seeing any glinting buttons or feeling any abnormal lumps in the leaves.

“Let’s move on, Frisk. Maybe the clue is in the next hallway,” Ryan suggested. They nodded, and they moved forward, following Toriel through a narrow tunnel.

Suddenly, from a hidden corner, something leaped forward, pulling their soul into a fight. The room darkened, and a frog-looking creature stood poised and ready to attack.

Frisk flinched back and Ryan’s initial impulse was to kick it away, but he stopped himself. Toriel had said they could avoid fighting if they talked to the other monsters; if anyone had the power here, it was Ryan.

“You look… nice today,” he said. Ryan had a feeling it didn’t understand him, but the monster blushed anyway. Toriel stepped forward, giving it a nasty stink eye. It cowered away and Ryan felt a small rush of relief.

“We won,” Frisk whispered, grabbing onto his hand.

“Huh. I guess so, kid,” he replied, looking down at them, and squeezing their hand back.

“That was a Froggit,” Toriel said. She looked vaguely annoyed. “I’ll have to let the other monsters in here know you’ll be here and not to attack you.”

“Thank you,” Frisk said, and she beamed at them, seemingly unable to stay annoyed. She continued forward.

Next to where the Froggit attacked, a plaque was attached to the wall. “‘The western room is the eastern room’s blueprint,’” Ryan read. They walked up to Toriel and he looked out at the room, staring at the small spikes. He glanced back at the other room’s pathway and looked back at the spikes.

“This is the puzzle…” Toriel said reluctantly. As soon as she opened her mouth, he figured it out.

“Oh! The other pathway is the answer.” He knelt down next to Frisk. “Kid, would you mind if I picked you up and put you on my shoulders while we walk across? I don't want to risk you getting hurt.” They looked conflicted for a moment, before their expression turned resolute, and they nodded very seriously, holding out their arms for him.

Ryan put his hands under their armpits and hoisted them up, groaning dramatically. “Kid, you’re killing me here!” he exclaimed, maneuvering them high onto his shoulders and letting their feet dangle down his chest. He gripped onto their ankles and backtracked, getting a good look at the floor. “Think you can help me remember that, Frisk?”

“Yeah,” they replied, tapping once on one of his hands. He went back to the puzzle and, holding his breath, followed the other pathway carefully. Toriel didn’t say anything as he moved through the spikes, his footsteps seeming to sensor the removal.

After they crossed, Ryan let out his breath of relief. Toriel crossed with a wide smile. “That was wonderful, my child!” she said, resting a paw on the side of his cheek. Ryan could feel the heat rising in his face at the praise. “You are very clever.” She pulled away and continued onward.

“Alright, Frisk, I gotta put you down, buddy. We’ll be too tall to get through the doorway.”

“...Alright,” they conceded, allowing Ryan to pull them down. He gave ‘em a friendly toss while still in his arms and they laughed delightedly, before he set them down straight.

They crossed the threshold into the next room.

Toriel’s eyes flitted over the both of you. “You have done excellently thus far, my children. However, I would like the both of you to continue forward in this room without my guidance.” She averted her eyes, not meeting either of their gazes. “Forgive me for this.”

Before Ryan could really comprehend what she was doing, she was gone, her soft footfalls fading in the distance.

Frisk was the first one to move, stepping further into the long corridor. They gripped onto Ryan’s jacket and he quickly assumed their pace.

“Well, that was odd,” Ryan said, listening as their footsteps echoed down the hall. Frisk didn’t respond, instead staring straight ahead, walking with an intense look on their face.

The room itself wasn’t all that different from the others; just incredibly long. It was somewhat disorienting, but they both stayed on the path, coming closer and closer to the next entryway.

Frisk pulled away from Ryan and ran up to one of the long pillars. They knocked on the marble, the sound reverberating melodically throughout the hall. There was a small _peep!_ from behind the pillar and Ryan frowned, moving closer to inspect it.

Out came Toriel!

She stepped away from the pillar, standing next to them. “Greetings, my children! Not to worry; I haven’t left you. However, there was an important reason for this exercise: independence! I have some business I must attend to, as well as tidying up a bit. It’s been quite some time since any humans have come down here; there may be some items lying around. Don't take anything you don't need; you may need extra pocket space!” She laid a paw on Frisk’s head and on Ryan’s cheek. “Be good, my children. I shall see you soon. You may wait here for me; I should only be a little while. Here, take this.” She handed Frisk an old phone; it looked like it hadn’t been upgraded in decades. It seemed like it would be a miracle, getting it to work. “I’ll see you soon.” She patted both of them before she spun around exited, her long dress billowing behind her.

“Well, she didn’t say we couldn’t explore…” Ryan said.

He turned around, seeing Frisk already messing around with the phone. They dialed the number labelled on the top and said, “Hi Mom!”

There was a loud response and Frisk giggled. They called again, this time asking, “How are you doing today?” Frisk nodded very seriously to what she was saying and looked up at Ryan, giving him a small grin. Ryan grinned back as Frisk hung up.

“Want to look around?” he asked. They nodded enthusiastically. “Great! Let’s get this show on the road.”

💙

> **THE RUINS, MT. EBOTT, YUKON, CANADA**

Together, Ryan and Frisk walked throughout the Ruins, meeting new monsters and fixing puzzles. The rocks were quite interesting; Ryan hadn’t realized that monsters would take shape in – the human equivalent of – inanimate objects. He wondered what unknown magic he may have faced in his everyday life.

Then again, he supposed he wouldn’t have, if monsters were locked down here.

Frisk poked a piece of cheese. It was stuck to the table. Next to it was a little mouse hole. Knowing one day the mouse would get the cheese filled Ryan with determination.

Ryan blinked. Huh?

But Frisk was already moving on, and Ryan didn’t want to lose track of them, so he pushed the stray thought aside and followed.

In front of them laid a bright white monster, resting on top of a pile of leaves. Ryan frowned at it, tilting his head as he looked around to pass by without disturbing it. There didn’t seem to be anyway, so he knelt down next to it.

He tried to tap on the monster, but his hand phased through. His eyes widened.

He felt Frisk walk up next to him and the monster started saying, “zzzzzzzzz,” aloud.

“Is… is this a ghost?” Ryan asked Frisk.

“It looks like it,” they replied nonchalantly.

“Oh my God.” He struggled for a second to grab his phone out of his pocket, but as soon as he had it, he opened his camera app and handed it to Frisk. “Please hold this and record?” he asked. They nodded their head bemusedly and did as he asked, taking a step back to get a better camera angle.

Ryan tried to tap on the monster again, and again, his hand phased right through. “Oh my God!”

The monster continued to say, “zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz,” before a whispered mumble of, “are they gone yet?” interrupted the consonant. Ryan thought it might have been pretending to sleep.

“Okay, okay, okay, so I know for a fact you are actually awake,” he said, addressing the monster. The “zzz”ing stopped. “I just have one question: are you a ghost?”

The room darkened and their glowing heart appeared. Frisk set aside the phone, propping it against the wall, before joining him in the battle.

“What’s your name?” they asked the monster.

“napstablook,” it – he? Are pronouns even relevant here? – replied morosely. Ryan snorted and immediately started to cough, trying to cover it up. To Napstablook, it worked; Frisk, however, was giving him a dirty look, before giving the monster a patient smile. Ryan mimicked them. “heh,” he mumbled, beginning to cry. The tears attacked the duo and Ryan dodged, moving the heart with a swipe of his hand and blocking the attack in front of Frisk.

When he stopped crying, Ryan and Frisk shared a look, before Frisk said, “What do ghosts use to do their makeup? Vanishing cream!”

“heh heh,” Napstablook said, looking a little better. “i’m not really feeling up to it right now to fight. sorry.”

“That’s okay,” Ryan reassured, Frisk nodding beside him.

The monster looked conflicted for a moment, before saying, “i want to show you something. let me try…” Napstablook began to cry again, but rather than the tears attacking them, they defied gravity and formed a hat on top of Napstablook’s hat. “i call it, ‘dapper-blook.’ do you… like it…?”

“Dude, it looks amazing!”

“Yeah!” Frisk agreed enthusiastically.

“oh… oh, gee…” The room lightened again and Napstablook straightened up, floating in front of Ryan and Frisk. “i am a ghost.”

He said more – Ryan knew for a fact he said more – but his brain broke.

Napstablook was a _ghost_. He turned and looked at his phone still propped against the wall.

He had proof he saw a ghost.

Ryan _met a ghost._

Holy shit.

“oh, i’m rambling again. i’ll get out of your way…”

“No, wait!” Ryan called, but the ghost had already disappeared. “Oh my God.” He repeated. He stepped back, grabbing his phone from the ground. It was still recording! He had proof! “I can’t wait to tell Shane! I can’t wait to tell him, ‘I told you so!’ Holy shit.”

“Who’s Shane?” Frisk asked behind him.

Ryan paused, turning around to face them. Who was _Shane_?

All of a sudden, a wave of despair unexpectedly fled over Ryan and his eyes stung. He couldn’t show Shane; not yet. He was still trapped in the underground and who knew how long it would take to get out?

Who was Shane? A partner in crime, one of his best friends, his… his boyfriend.

Subconsciously, he wiped his eyes and gave Frisk a smile; he hoped it wasn’t tinged with sadness. “Shane is a good friend of mine. He… he doesn’t believe in ghosts.”

“Seems to me he’s wrong,” Frisk said with a toothy grin.

Ryan pushed away his sad thoughts. He knew bottling wasn’t good, but… just this once. His own smile widened into something genuine and he said, “Oh, you know he is! And now I’ve got the definitive evidence to prove it.” He held out a hand. “C’mon, Frisk, let’s go see if we can find Toriel.”

They nodded and grabbed his. They walked through the crinkling leaves and Ryan stuck his phone in his pocket. It was still warm and, for now, that was comforting.

💙

> **THE RUINS, MT. EBOTT, YUKON, CANADA**

Ryan and Frisk turned the corner and a tall tree stood proudly in front of them, its leaves in a pile around it. They walked around it and, in a short distance, they could hear Toriel’s voice fretting.

Frisk’s phone began to ring and Toriel appeared from behind the tree. Her head snapped up and the ringing and she hurried over. “Oh, you’ve come here yourselves, my children! I was hoping you would wait. Are you hurt?” They both shook their heads no. “Not even a scratch? Impressive! Well…” She gave them a grin, showing off her pointed teeth. “I have a surprise for you, my children. Come! Follow me.”

She turned around and walked up the path towards a large brick building. The cute, tidy house was built into the walls of the Ruins, filling Ryan with determination to continue. They followed.

A plaque hung above the front door. “Home,” it read. For some reason, it made Ryan’s heart ache. They stepped through the entryway into a small foyer.

It was pretty inside. The walls were a warm, muted cream and their footsteps echoed against the birchwood floor. Ryan breathed in deeply and a sweet, rich aroma permeated the air. Ooh, that smelled good.

“Do you smell that?” Frisk inhaled and they gave a small gasp. “Surprise! It is a butterscotch-cinnamon pie! I thought we could celebrate your arrival. I want you to enjoy your time living here, so the snail pie can be put off until tomorrow.” _Steven would probably enjoy that_ , Ryan thought, and he bit his lip to keep from laughing. “Come, my children. I have another surprise for you.”

Toriel led them to the hallway to the right. “This is it,” she said, opening the first door. “A room for yourselves. I hope you like it.” Frisk approached her first and she patted their head lovingly. A sliver of worry intertwined with Ryan’s cozy feelings and he stepped up behind them, peeking into the room. “Is… is something burning? Um, make yourself at home!” she said quickly, exiting the hallway.

It was a children’s room.

Ryan squinted at it as Frisk skipped inside, already checking out the cabinet off to the side. Ryan looked down at one of the boxes on the floor; there was a wide variety of shoes and shoe sizes, but Ryan knew none of them would fit him.

There wasn’t much dust in the room, but the disuse was obvious; the only thing that seemed completely clean and fresh was the rocking chair next to the door. Ryan was tempted to sit down in it – it’d been awhile since he rested – but then he noticed Frisk eyeing the bed.

“You want to take a nap?” Ryan asked. They nodded slowly, pulling off their own small boots and climbing in, getting comfortable on their side. Ryan tucked in the blanket around them and turned off the light. Frisk was already falling asleep, their head falling to the side on the pillow. “Sweet dreams,” he said, giving their head a pat, before leaving the room.

Ryan explored the house a little bit, finding a mirror at the end of the hall, before walking into the living room. Toriel sat in front of the fire with a pair of glasses on, reading a book that had a picture of snails on it.

“Oh, hello, my child! What can I do for you?” she asked kindly.

“I had some questions, if you wouldn’t mind. See, I’m a....” He paused. He didn’t really know how to describe himself. Usually, whenever he interviewed people, he was with Shane. He didn’t realize how much he used him as a support in the show; he didn’t realize how much he depended on him, just to be there. Just to be present.

Just like before, his emotions crashed, a feeling of hopelessness intermingling with the determination to continue, to move forward. He didn’t know what to say, and this time, he didn’t have Frisk here as a motivation to will his negative emotions away.

A paw stretched out in front of him and Ryan looked up from where he’d been staring at the floor; he hadn’t even realized he’d turned away from Toriel. Her eyes were understanding and compassionate.

“Why don't we sit at the table?” she asked, and Ryan could only nod. Slowly, he trekked across the room and sat heavily in one of the chairs. “You had holes in your backpack, yes?” He nodded again. He’d forgotten about that. “Why don't I get some thread and a needle, and we can sew it up? While we do that, you can ask questions.”

“Alright,” he replied, and he watched her movements as she went into the kitchen, opening different drawers, presumably looking for the materials. He pulled his backpack off and put it in front of him, unzipping it and looking through to see what he had.

Ryan hadn’t brought any of his paper notes; he hadn’t thought he would be speaking to anyone of importance. He snorted derisively to himself; if only. He saw Toriel’s head tilt as if to look over and he looked down. She’s only been gracious thus far; no need to make an enemy out of her.

She came back over, holding a short stack of paper, some crayons, and a needle and thread kit. “How about we do this instead: you ask your questions while I stitch up the holes in your bag?” Before Ryan could object, she pulled the bag in front of her chair and put the papers in front of him with the crayons. “I enjoy working with my hands while I talk. I apologize; I don't have any other types of writing utensils available in this room.”

“That’s fine; this is great. Thank you, Toriel,” he said with a warm heart. It must be her magic; she made him feel safe, and that everything would be alright despite the uncertainties in his future.

“It is no problem, my child. Now, tell me, what do you do?” She threaded the needle and started inspecting the bag.

“I’m a gho– paranormal investigator. I’ve been looking into Mount Ebott for some time, trying to locate where it is–”

“Locate where it is? Humans don't know?”

He shook his head. “Most of the history of monsters is forgotten except for the remaining Tablets.” Her paws stilled for a moment. “People have theorized where the Mountain is located, but it’s never been confirmed officially. Most think Mount Ebott is just a fable and that monsters aren’t real.”

“And you? You believed?”

Ryan bit the inside of his lip. “Yes and no; I knew there had to be something out there, like ghosts and whatnot, but not truly to the extent of Mount Ebott, where it seems ghosts and monsters reign.”

“I see,” she said, resuming her work.

Now seemed like a good time to ask his own questions. “So, what do you know about monster history?” He picked up a crayon.

“Well, in the beginning, while we were on the surface, we were on good terms with humans. We were peaceful with them; friends with most. We even taught some magic.” Ryan glanced up sharply, ready to ask about it, but she wasn’t finished talking. She had a faraway look in her eyes. He scribbled down everything she said as fast as he could. “Many humans were good and believed us to be pure hearted. Then, ideas began to spread, and rumors that we might try to hurt other humans emerged and… well. We were sealed away by seven sorcerers.

“A few I had known personally, and had been companions with, once upon a time.”

Ryan reached over, grabbing her paw and stilling her movements. She looked up at him, startled. “That was once upon a time. It could be different now.”

“It certainly could be.” But she didn’t look confident. “You want to leave here, yes?”

Ryan nodded, suddenly aching. “Yes. I have to go home. I have… people I love. People I care about.”

She squeezed his hand, her paw gentle and so, before letting go and continuing to sew. Toriel laughed softly. “You are not like the others that have fallen down here, you know that?”

He frowned at her. “How so?”

“Well, for one thing, you aren’t a child.” She concentrated on her work for a moment, before adding, “All of the humans who have fallen were young. Many were under ten in human years. I… I tried to protect them, but those who could left. The one who stayed behind…” Her face crumbled and Ryan understood.

“I want them to stay here,” Toriel suddenly demanded. “They will be safe here. I can teach them and protect them and… care for them. The ones who have fallen before never had that in their lives and I want to provide the best life they can have. You both said yourselves that you aren’t family.”

“But I can still protect them.”

Ryan’s thoughts were whirring. She was scared of Frisk leaving, not him. Maybe it was treacherous in the mountain. Maybe the monsters weren’t friendly. Maybe she thought he could protect himself, but not them.

Maybe she was lonely.

“Toriel…” They made eye contact and he hadn’t realized what a rich brown her eyes were before. She trembled slightly and he realized she was afraid. Afraid of what, he didn’t want to name. “I can protect them. I can protect Frisk with my life. You can give them a good home, a good education; but you said it yourself: those other children left. You can’t be sure Frisk won’t do the same. And the difference between Frisk and the other children is that I’m here. They have me to help them through the mountain. I can get us to the surface.”

She chuckled humorlessly to herself. She stared down at her paws as she completed a final stitch. “You don't know the danger. They, ASGORE, will kill you. He will hunt you down and steal your souls. Beyond this house is the end of the Ruins; there is a one way exit through the large door at the end of the basement.

“Every human that falls down here has met the same fate because of him; they come, they leave, they die. I felt when their souls left the underground; the emptiness fills the air with despair and, for some, hope. He captures their souls and buries their bodies, the coward unable to muster the strength to truly leave this place and destroy the barrier with peace in mind.

“You may be older, but you are naive. I can’t bear to lose another.”

She finished the stitch and used one of her pointed claws to cut the thread. He knew she was trying to intimidate her, but it was too late; he could already see her intentions.

Ryan placed a hand on one of her furry wrists. The fur was soft, he noted. “I’m determined to see them to safety. I promise you; I will protect them. And, in the end, it’s their choice whether or not they want to go. I have to; but if they want to stay, I’m not forcing them to leave.”

The look on Toriel’s face was too complicated for Ryan to decipher. Sad wasn’t the right word; resigned seemed too final. Toriel searched his eyes for something and when she seemed to find it, she nodded slowly. “Very well. Before you go, however, get some rest. The pie will be ready soon. There is no need to rush.”

He nodded in return and stood up, carefully pushing the chair back in against the table. He’d take a nap in the rocking chair; it looked comfortable before, and he could protect Frisk in case if anything happened.

He looked back at her in the doorway; she’d put her head in her paws.

Remorseful. That was what she looked like before. Remorseful.

He quietly walked out, not turning around again.

💙

> **HOME, THE RUINS, MT. EBOTT, YUKON, CANADA**

There was a tinkling giggle on the other side of the room, the sound soft and sweet. Ryan didn’t remember having anyone over the night before and he was well versed in what Shane’s laugh sounded like.

He struggled to open his eyes, and stretched, letting out a groan when his joints popped. He hasn’t slept that well in… forever.

He started blinking his eyes to get them open and realized he wasn’t in his room. He was…

Ryan had forgotten, somehow.

He was in the room Toriel gave Frisk.

Frisk, who was sitting in front of the bed with a plate of butterscotch-cinnamon pie in their lap. They gave him a wide smile. “G’morning, Ryan.”

“Is it morning?” he asked. He didn’t think there’d be a way to actually track time down here. Huh. He hadn’t been thinking about it.

They shrugged.

Maybe not then.

He shifted on the rocking chair and realized there was a thick, heavy quilt tucked around him. Beside him was his backpack, looking good as new.

It was time, then.

“Did Toriel drop these off?” he questioned, pointedly looking towards the pies and blanket.

“Uh huh,” they replied.

They didn’t offer any more information and Ryan shrugged off the blanket. He got up, stretched again, and pulled on his jacket from where he’d rolled it up as a pillow last night. Now wasn’t the time to feel bad about leaving; now was the time to feel the courage to continue, the strength to move forward, the determination to get himself, and Frisk, to the surface.

Recollections of the conversation he had with Toriel reminded him of what he had to ask the kid. “Frisk.”

They looked up at him from where they’d been staring at the pie. “Yeah?”

“Do you… want to stay with Toriel?”

Frisk froze, their eyes glazing over. Oh, no. “Do you… want me to stay with Toriel?”

Ryan knelt down on one knee in front of them, using his opposite arm to support him. “Listen to me, Frisk. I want to get us both to the surface. I want us to explore the underground. I want to have an adventure down here, with you. But I also know that this might be dangerous, and hard, and we might not be safe all the time. So, it’s up to you.”

“I…” They looked away, fiddling their fingers. “I want to go with you.”

Ryan smiled broadly. “I’m glad. Can I give you a hug–?”

Frisk jumped up and threw themselves in Ryan’s arms, embracing him tightly around his neck. Ryan gave a small wheeze and wrapped his arms around their waist. “We’re good, kid. We’re good.”

💙

> **HOME, THE RUINS, MT. EBOTT, YUKON, CANADA**

“The first place you’ll arrive is the snowy forest. From there, you’ll find a town, then the wishing cavern, and the hotlands. Just keep heading straight and you will reach the barrier.”

Toriel led them downstairs after they both had a slice of pie. The basement was long and thin, the walls and floor a dark magenta like the rest of the Ruins. Their footsteps echoed throughout the room forebodingly, and for some reason, Ryan had a bad feeling.

“The barrier?” Frisk asked.

“The barrier that keeps the monsters underground,” Ryan answered. Toriel sent him a look and he shrugged in response. He wasn’t going to hide it from the kid. They “ooh’d” and continued without another comment.

They made a left turn, and, at the end of the corridor, a tall door stood tall with the same emblem Toriel wore. “This is it,” she said. “The door to the underground.” Her paws shook. She turned quickly and addressed Ryan. “Prove to me.”

“Prove to you what–?”

“Prove to me you’re strong enough to protect them!” She threw out her left arm with an open palm and fire was aimed at Frisk. The heart suddenly popped up between the two of them and Ryan shouted, pulling Frisk out of the way as he redirected the heart away from the fire.

The room darkened.

She was forcing him to battle.

He wasn’t going to fight her; he knew that for a fact.

So instead, once the fire burnt out, he bowed his head, sparing her.

“. . . . .”

She attacked again, this time raising both paws into the air, summoning fire, and throwing it at Frisk. Ryan directed the heart up and picked up Frisk, dodging the attacks so as to not get burnt. He bowed in front of her again.

“. . . . . . . .”

Toriel threw zigzagging fire patterns towards them and Ryan jumped over them, letting out a small gasp as fire singed the back of his neck. He gritted his teeth and bowed.

“Fight me!” she bellowed.

Fire circled them and Ryan swirled his arm around, moving the heart out of attacking distance as he pirouetted away from Toriel’s attack. Frisk clutched his jacket and Ryan hoped they didn’t get hurt. “You okay, kid?”

They nodded into his chest. Ryan breathed out. and bowed in front of Toriel.

“Fight me,” she repeated.

They continued to dance the dangerous tango. Sweat drenched the back of Ryan’s neck as he supported Frisk and the backpack and directed the heart. He was singed every so often, but the wounds weren’t serious enough to stop. Dodge, direct, spare. Dodge direct, spare. Dodge, direct, spare. Dodge, direct–

He bowed again.

There was a heavy pause, and Ryan couldn’t feel the heat licking up his sides. His throat burned and he looked up as he breathed in rapidly. He tightened his hold on Frisk.

Toriel watched them with sorrowful eyes; yet, she still wore a proud, wide smile. “You’ve done well, my child. Thank you.” The room lightened back to normal. “When you leave, however, please. Don't come back.” _I can’t bear losing either of you_ hung in the air between the three.

Ryan loosened his grip on Frisk, and he set them down on the floor. They immediately ran up to Toriel and she hugged them as fiercely as they did her. Ryan smiled at them.

Now wasn’t the time to be upset. Now was the time to move forward. He was determined.

She let go of Frisk and gave Ryan a hug as well. “Keep them safe,” she murmured.

“I will,” he whispered back.

They pulled apart. Frisk and Ryan didn’t watch her leave; only grabbed each other's hands when they could no longer hear her footsteps.

“Are you ready?”

Frisk nodded.

“Then let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy new years!!!! i'm excited to put out this new chapter. it's growing, y'all!!! it's already surpassed over 10k words and truly, i'm astounded. we're not even a quarter of the way done yet, folks. so strap in.
> 
> if you enjoyed, please leave me feedback! i'd love to hear what you have to say! and if you see any mistakes, please point it out to me, i want to try to fix everything i can. 
> 
> much love, lexi <3
> 
> [come scream with me!](https://cleopatraslibrary.tumblr.com)


	4. A Frostbitten Forest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryan and Frisk meet some hardy skeletons and hard revelations.

???, MT. EBOTT, YUKON, CANADA

Ryan pushed open the door, revealing a dark corridor. Their footsteps echoed ominously, and the hair stood on the back of Ryan’s neck. He wasn’t going to freak out; it could wait. He just had to breathe. His joints ached and his skin began to blister under his clothing, but they needed to get to safer territory before he tried to heal his wounds. 

At least Frisk was faring better; they didn’t have any wounds and they still gripped onto his hand tightly. They weren’t going anywhere without him.

The longer they walked through the hall, the worse the feeling became. Ryan brought a finger to his lips and hoped Frisk wouldn’t question it. He felt like he was in Sally House, his body and mind screaming at him to get out! get out! get out! Sweat collected at the back of his neck.

A new archway stood in front of them, baring the exit. This was it.

Ryan took a step forward, then another. He tugged on Frisk’s hand and they fell in line behind him, matching his slow steps. There was a patch of grass in the center of the cavern and he didn’t trust it.

He was right not to.

Flowey appeared, seeming to sprout before their eyes. 

“Hee hee hee,” it touted. “Clever. Very clever. You’re new to the underground; you haven’t learned the rules yet. In this world, it’s kill or be killed! So you spared one single life. But what happens when you meet a relentless killer?” It looked between Ryan and Frisk, its eyes widening and smile spreading maliciously. “You’ll die, and you’ll die, and you’ll die!” 

“Hard to kill someone more than once,” Ryan quipped and immediately wanted to hit himself.

It continued to smile merrily, as if he had told a splendid joke. “Hee hee hee! You don't even understand the power you hold,” it accused Ryan. “You’ll grow frustrated of this world and you’ll let me inherit absolute control!” Its words grew manic and Ryan took a step back, Frisk huddling closer to his side. “I am the prince of this world’s future. You’ll understand soon enough how you can taint it. I’ve never seen anything like your combined souls before; your determination must taste sweet!” Ryan wrapped his arm around Frisk’s head. They might have to dodge soon. “But not to worry, my monarchs! My plan isn’t regicide. This… you’ve made this so much more interesting.”

Its face reformed and pointed teeth sharpened into a disturbing smile, a diabolical laugh erupting from the flower.

Then, as abruptly as it had appeared, it vanished into the ground.

“Okay, let’s get the hell out of here,” Ryan said, pulling Frisk up next to him. They sped-walked over the patch of grass and climbed through another columned archway pushing open the heavy door.

A streak of light came through the crack and Ryan’s eyes widened. Was this area actually underground? He pushed harder against the door, putting all of his weight into it. It swung open and Ryan fell flat on his face into a pile of snow.

Behind him, Frisk laughed.

The billowy snow felt good against his battered body and he let out an exaggerated groan. He blinked a few times, righting his contacts, before looking up, hoping to see the sun. Instead, the top of the cavern was clearly distinguished, and he bit the inside of his lip in disappointment. It was significantly taller than before, however; Ryan could have touched the ceilings of the Ruins, while, in here, it’d be a difficult climb up the walls – that is, if the walls were even visible. As it was, the tree line seemed endless.

Frisk started pulling on his backpack. “C’mon, Ryan,” they said. “Let’s move forward.”

He sighed. “Alright, alright, give me a second.” Ryan pushed himself up and looked ahead, blinking at the forest in front of – and surrounding – them. There was a clear path, but this could be dangerous. Now wasn’t the time to make jokes, or to try to vlog. Ryan straightened and rested his hand on Frisk’s shoulder as they moved forward.

The snow crunched under their feet softly. It was peaceful, but Ryan’s senses were knocked up to eleven and he couldn’t really enjoy the quiet. They stepped over a branch and, in the distance, he could see a small gate. Hopefully they would run into the town soon.

“I’m sorry you had to see that, between Toriel and I,” he apologized. “It wasn’t really fair to have the two of us battling, leaving you in the crossfire.” They looked up at him with an empathetic gaze.

“You’re forgiven. She wouldn’t have let us leave without a fight,” they replied, leaving no room for arguments. Ryan squinted down at them, but they were certainly sure of themself; there wasn’t any doubt in their eyes that she wouldn’t have let them leave peacefully.

It was disconcerting. 

Before Ryan could respond, the branch broke behind them. 

He spun around, crouching down in a defensive position, his eyes skittering across the landscape, but nothing was out of the ordinary – except for the large branch they’d stepped over before. It was completely shattered. His heart rate spiked, but he didn’t resist the urge to call out, “Hello? Is anybody there?” 

But nobody came.

Ryan turned back towards Frisk and grabbed their hand again, picking up the pace. “Alright kid, I think we should get going–” 

A shadow moved behind one of the tree trunks next to them. Ryan froze, terror beginning to slither down his veins, even as his fingers curled into fists. He scanned the treeline. “Frisk, you should run up ahead.”

“Ryan, I–”

He knelt down hard and gently put his hands on their shoulders. He didn’t want to be an asshole, but he didn’t know how else to convey his urgency without scaring them. “Please, Frisk.”

Their lips tightened, but they nodded their head resolutely, and began venturing forward towards the gate. Ryan quickly pulled off his bag and grabbed the tripod, holding it loosely in his right hand, before turning around, scanning the area as he walked backwards.

The forest was silent except for the heavy pounding in Ryan’s ears. Nothing seemed to be moving anymore in the area. There weren’t even any types of birds, or other types of animals. He supposed it made sense, since they were underground, but then how would trees be able to grow without the sun? And where did the snow come from? How did it get here?

At least he didn’t feel like he was suffocating. 

Not yet, anyway.

He felt a small tugging on his shirt and looked down; he’d already caught up with Frisk. He swallowed, and dropped the tripod onto the snow, next to the short gate. He faced forward and took a look at the thing.

“Huh.” It was built oddly. There weren’t any types of latches, but the bars underneath didn’t seem thick enough to actually keep anything out. 

Behind them, footfalls echoed. Ryan whirled around and jumped down, kneeling in front of Frisk, using his body to guard theirs. They watched as a monster, shrouded in the shadows, moved closer and closer to them.

“Kid, go through the gate.”

“Not without you.”

He sucked in a breath. Jesus Christ. Okay then.

Ryan spared a glance at the tripod as soon as the monster drew near. No, he wasn’t going to hurt it. He… he just can’t.

“Human. Don't you know how to greet a new pal? Turn around and shake my hand.”

It stuck out its hand. 

Ryan hoped he didn’t get stabbed.

Reluctantly, he grabbed its hand…

… and felt a soft, rubbery material as a fart noise suddenly broke the tense air. 

Ryan let out a startled laugh as Frisk laughed uproariously behind him.

The shadow vanished, and a short, big boned skeleton in a blue jacket appeared. He greeted them with a wide smile, but it almost looked like his eyebrows would be furrowed, if he had them. “heheh… the old whoopie cushion in the hand trick,” he said, his voice surprisingly deep. “it’s always funny.

“anyways. you’re a… you’re humans, right? that’s hilarious.” He looked off to the side, before staring back at them. Ryan’s skin crawled down his spine. “i’m sans. sans the skeleton. i’m actually supposed to be on the watch for humans right now. guess i’m doin’ pretty okay, huh?” Sans chuckled to himself. “but…” Hope fluttered in Ryan’s stomach. _Please don't be a fight_. “y’know… i don't really care about capturing anybody.” 

__Hell yeah!__ he cheered internally

“now my brother, papyrus… he’s a human hunting __fanatic__.”

 _ _Fuck no!__

“hey, actually, i think that’s him over there.” Sans gestured in the near distance after the gate. “i have an idea. go through this gate thingy.” Ryan raised his brows. “yeah, go right through. my bro made the bars too wide to stop anybody.”

Ryan turned, watching Frisk walk through the gate normally. He stood back up to his normal height and looked down at Sans, and then back at the gate, then back at Sans. The skeletons’ eye sockets were shrunken, as if he were squinting. 

“Uh…” His heart fluttered as he heard approaching footsteps from the other side. Frisk gave him a thumbs up, but he couldn’t return it.

“maybe try stepping over the gate?”

“That should work, maybe,” Ryan said. 

He held onto one of the poles as he swung his leg over, then his other one. He righted his backpack and checked his pockets; he still had his phone. The tripod laid abandoned on the other side of the fence, but he could grab it later.

Sans walked right through the gate. Ugh.

“c’mon, let’s not dawdle. chop chop,” Sans said, winking at Frisk. They giggled at his antics. Now that he really paid attention, it didn’t seem like Frisk was scared of Sans at all. If anything, it seemed like they were greeting an old friend, by that soft look in their eyes and the constant smile they wore.

They walked ahead, stopping at a sentry station. There was an odd-looking lamp next to it.

“quick, kid, hide behind that conveniently shaped lamp! and, uh, you can go sit behind the sentry station. i’ll keep ‘im distracted.”

Ryan felt disconnected from his body as he and Frisk moved into their positions. He squatted down before deciding, _fuck it_ , and just plopping down on the ground. The backpack jostled on his back and he repositioned, frowning down at the ground where a bunch of condiments laid. 

He was still clearly visible from the pathway, but he wasn’t going to lie in the snow and get completely wet – not when he didn’t know how much further they had to go before they could get any shelter. So, Ryan resigned himself to hunching over and trying to blend in with the snowy background.

The snow crunching became a lot louder and another skeleton came into view. 

It had to be Papyrus. He was two heads taller than Sans and, while Sans was wearing a hoodie and shorts, Papyrus was wearing some kind of… uniform, Ryan thought. It could only be a uniform. It was a white chest plate with puffy shoulder pads, black sleeves and leggings, and a pair of bright orange gloves and boots. To top it off, he had a cape draping behind him in that same, matching orange.

Not to mention the blue thong around his pelvic girdle.

Ryan pulled out his phone and started recording. He couldn’t _not_ record this guy.

Papyrus was unbelievable.

“‘sup, bro?”

“YOU KNOW WHAT ‘SUP,’ BROTHER?” Ryan flinched at how loud his voice was. He glanced at Frisk, but they seemed fine, even entertained by the skeleton. He couldn’t blame them. “IT’S BEEN EIGHT DAYS AND YOU STILL HAVEN’T RECALIBRATED! YOUR! PUZZLES!” the taller skeleton shouted, his voice nasally and– 

Holy shit, he sounded like Skeletor. This guy, this skeleton, sounded exactly like a skeleton television character. He was going to flip his shit. Ryan had to sit here and pretend not to be here because…

“I MUST BE THE ONE! I WILL CAPTURE A HUMAN! THEN, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL GET EVERYTHING I UTTERLY DESERVE!”

… Papyrus wanted to capture humans. 

Anxiety bubbled in the pit of his stomach. God, he wanted Shane here. Shane was better equipped at this stuff, right? He would be able to compartmentalize the hell of it and then would be able to figure out the steps to take next. Ryan wasn’t cut out for…

He took a deep breath. Ryan couldn’t spiral now. He needed to focus back in on their conversation.

“hey, take it easy! i’ve gotten a ton of work done today. a skele-ton.” There was a distant ba-dum-tssss. 

Or maybe he didn’t. 

What the hell is going on?

“SANS!” At least Papyrus wasn’t amused.

“come on, you’re smiling,” Sans replied and, well shit. Ryan guessed he was. 

“I AM! AND I HATE IT!” He sighed dramatically, looking off to the side of the forest. “WHY DOES SOMEONE AS GREAT AS ME HAVE TO DO SO MUCH TO GET SOME RECOGNITION?”

“wow, it sounds like you’re really working yourself…” Ryan braced himself. “down to the bone.” There was another faraway drum sound and he wondered where they were coming from. Sans turned and winked at them when Papyrus put his skull in his hands.

“UGH… I WILL ATTEND TO MY PUZZLES, BROTHER. AS FOR YOUR WORK? PUT A LITTLE MORE ‘BACK’BONE INTO IT! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!”

And as quickly as Papyrus had joined the fray, he turned on his heel and marched away, hooting about his own greatness. 

Ryan stopped recording and checked his battery. Seventy-seven battery charge. 

He swallowed. Fuck.

“ok, you two can come out now.”

Ryan got up gingerly, shivering as his wet pants stuck to his clothes. It was too cold for this, he decided, as he walked back onto the path. 

Frisk, on the other hand, jumped out from behind the lamp with vigor, their smile wide and blossoming. At least they enjoyed the puns. That was good. He reached into one of the side pouches of the backpack and grabbed one of the monster candies from inside the Ruins, sticking it in his mouth. He hummed when the magic warmed his spirit and healed any remaining wounds from Toriel’s fight, his body going lax despite his better judgement. He felt some of the nervousness melt away with a renewed sense of purpose. He was determined to move forward.

Frisk tugged on his jacket and Ryan opened his eyes – when had he closed them? – looking down at the smaller skeleton.

“you guys oughta get going. he might come back. and if he does, well.” He winked. Again. “you just might have to sit through some more of my hilarious jokes.”

Ryan rolled his eyes. “Yeah, we can’t have that. But, thank you for your help. We appreciate it,” he said, patting Frisk on the head. They swatted at his hand and grumbled good-naturedly under their breath. He laughed.

“hey, no problem, bucko.” As Ryan and Frisk began to trek onwards, Sans stopped them. “actually. wait a second, wouldja?” They gave him their full attention, Frisk grabbing his hand. “hate to bother ya but could you do me a favor? i was thinkin’... my brother’s been kinda down lately. he’s never seen a human before, let alone two of ‘em. and seeing ya might just make his day.”

“I don't know–” Ryan couldn’t put Frisk in any more danger than this journey was already putting them through.

“don't worry, he’s not dangerous, even when he tries to be.” What is with this skeleton and winking? How could he even wink? Aren’t skulls hard? Maybe monster skulls were a different caliber than human skulls. Still… “thanks a million. i’ll see ya up ahead.”

Ryan blinked. “Hey, we didn’t agree!” he shouted at Sans’ treating back. “He’s not even– He’s backtracking. How is he supposed to meet us up ahead if he’s going in the opposite– You know what? Never mind.” Frisk laughed at him and tugged on his hand. He sighed. “Alright, let’s get this show on the road. Wait,” he stopped. “Can you grab my tripod? That one actually cost a good chunk of change and I don't want to just leave it in the snow.”

Frisk nodded, running back across the bridge. “Uh, it’s not here!”

Ryan sighed. “Alright. Thanks, anyway.” Sans must have taken it. Whatever. He’d ask about it later. “C’mere, now let’s actually get the show on the road.” They skipped over to Ryan and grabbed his hand, and they started moving forward. 

They walked through a slim patch of trees and made their way onto the main path. They cut through the zigzagging forest, stopping at the fork in the path, where there was a sign and a box. 

Ryan read the sign as Frisk opened the chest. “‘This is a box. You can put an item inside or take an item out. The same box will appear later, so don't worry about coming back. Sincerely, a box lover.’ Huh. Must be the magic, eh? Was there anything in it?”

They nodded, handing Ryan his tripod. He tilted his head. Alright, then. He pulled off his backpack and put it back inside the bag, then slung it back on. He looked down at Frisk, watching as they put on a pair of sturdy gloves.

“Great. Stay here real quick? I want to check out the river for a sec,” he requested. They squinted at him, before shrugging and nodding and holding up their arms. “Uh. You want to sit on the box?” Again, they nodded. He lifted them up and sat them down, grinning back when they gave him a smile. “Alright, give me a minute.”

Ryan went down the left path, towards a rushing river. A fishing pole was hoisted against a large rock.

Curiosity piqued, Ryan reeled the line in. A piece of paper came out of the water with a picture of an oddly shaped monster on it. It looked part fish, part bird. On the back of the photo, there was a note: “Call me! Here’s my number!” 

Ryan pursed his lips. He decided not to call.

“Find anything?” Frisk asked as he walked back. They slid off the box. 

“Someone just left out a fishing line,” he said. They blinked at him and he shrugged. He could hear bones rattling. “C’mon, I think the skeleton brothers are around.”

They linked hands and walked down the right path.

Speak of the devil and they shall appear.

“SO, AS I WAS SAYING ABOUT UNDYNE–”

Papyrus cut himself off as he looked over at Ryan and Frisk. Looking at him up closely, he wasn’t as… threatening as he sounded before. His skull was long and narrow, and he had a wide smile on his face. 

He looked at his brother. His brother looked at them. He turned back to look at Papyrus. Papyrus looked at them. This went on, until they started spinning in circles, clumsily looking around. Frisk giggled and Ryan had to bite his lip. This was– this was actually ridiculous, what was going on?

“SANS! OH MY GOD! ARE THOSE… ARE THOSE HUMANS?!” Papyrus yelled, looking directly at them now.

“uhhhhhh.” Sans gave them a mischievous look. He pointed at some lumps of snow on the ground behind them. “actually, i think those are rocks.”

“OH.”

Ryan looked at him incredulously.

“hey, what’re those in front of the rocks?”

“OH MY GOD! Are those humans?” he asked Sans under his breath.

“yes,” he replied at his normal voice level.

“OH MY GOD!” Somehow, he was even louder than before. He could give Corey Taylor a run for his money. “SANS! I FINALLY DID IT!” 

Sans gave him a wide smile, looking genuinely happy at his brother’s “accomplishment.” It was nice.

“UNDYNE WILL...! I’M GONNA…! I’LL BE SO POPULAR! POPULAR! POPULAR!” The words seemed to burst out of Papyrus, his eyes wide and his smile bright. The joy was infectious. Ryan wondered if it was the magic, as happiness bubbled pleasantly in his stomach, just like the soothing calm Toriel projected. Papyrus cleared his throat. “HUMANS! YOU SHALL NOT PASS THIS AREA!” The inside of Ryan’s lip was going to be raw; he was biting it so much to keep from laughing. “I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL STOP YOU! I WILL THEN CAPTURE YOU. YOU WILL BE DELIVERED TO THE CAPITOL. THEN. THEN!” He paused. “I’M NOT SURE WHAT’S NEXT. IN ANY CASE! CONTINUE, ONLY IF YOU DARE! NYEH HEH HEH!”

He jogged up ahead and wow. Ryan felt like he needed a nap. 

“well, that went well,” Sans said.

“Have you ever heard of Skeletor?” Ryan asked him.

“uhhhhhh. no?” he replied bemusedly. “in case you forgot, buddy, we’re in the underground.”

Ryan waved his hand. “Yeah, but I didn’t know if you might’ve had a way to communicate with the outside world. Anyway. Your brother sounds exactly like him.”

“oh. huh. that’s kind of interesting. who do i sound like?”

“Like a mixture of Patrick Starr and a New Yorker,” Frisk piped up. Unexpectedly, Ryan laughed.

“Holy shit, they’re exactly right! Wow.”

“well, hope they’re as humerus as me,” he replied. “anyway, better get going. don't worry about papyrus. i’ll keep an eye socket out for ya.” He winked at them as he turned and followed his brother.

“That skeleton has a real thing for winking, doesn’t he?” Ryan shook his head. “Alright, kid, let’s get a move on.”

“Mmkay,” they murmured as they started moving forward. 

Asides from the wavy path line, the landscape was constant. It didn’t seem they could venture off the path too far without getting lost in the forest, and Ryan didn’t want to take that chance, especially when Toriel said that they should just go straight.

The scenery was pretty beautiful, though; there was no doubt. It looked like something straight out of a fairy tale, with the evergreen frosted with light snow. And the smell of the forest, too, was decadent. It was too cold to really remind Ryan of home, but it did remind him of Illinois during Christmas, when the air was thick with the smell of a brewing storm and fairy lights decorated every street corner. Shane had been smiling at him with crinkly eyes and a secret smile and Ryan’s heart felt…

Felt...

Ryan had never gone to Illinois before.

He frowned and tried to think about it, but a snowball came crashing into the side of his face. Their soul appeared and Ryan quickly guided it away from whoever just attacked them. Heat prickled behind his forehead and Ryan ignored the urge to press down on it.

“Hello, I’m Frisk,” Frisk introduced suddenly, waving at the monster. It looked a bit like a snowflake. “What’s your name?”

“Snowdrake. It’s ice to meet you!” he said. Snowdrake threw some more misshapen snowballs at them, which were surprisingly easy to dodge.

Ryan smiled at him while Frisk laughed at the pun. “See? Laughs! Dad was wrong!” Ryan covered his mouth, biting down on his lip hard. You’re going to hell if you laugh at that. You’re going to hell, Ryan reminded himself fiercely.

Somehow, he reigned himself in and bowed with Frisk. Snowdrake waved at them happily, the cavern brightening back to normal, before he disappeared into the trees. 

“I’m really... I can’t even think anymore,” Ryan confessed to Frisk. “Let’s go find that town.”

They passed a cardboard sentry station with a note taped onto it, written in the PAPYRUS font. Ryan didn’t have the mental capacity to read it, if he was frank. He did, anyway, even trying to imitate his voice. “‘You observe the well-crafted sentry station. Who could have built this, you ponder? I bet it was that very famous Royal Guardsman! Note: Not yet a very famous Royal Guardsman.’ It’s truly a mystery for the ages, huh, Frisk?” 

Frisk laughed and nodded. “A real mystery.”

They continued walking, making their way up to another sentry station; this one, at least, looked legitimate. 

Ryan read the sign next to it. “‘Absolutely no moving!’” Frisk and Ryan both tensed up, waiting for something to happen, but nobody popped out. Ryan shrugged and they started moving again, but before they knew it, a dog stuck its head out of the sentry station.

“Did something move? Was it my imagination? I can only see moving things. If something did move… like, a human… I’ll make sure it never moves again!”

The room darkened and Ryan gently pushed Frisk behind him, shifting to block any magic attacks. He didn’t move the heart yet.

The dog brandished a long, turquoise sword. “Don't move an inch!” it said. Ryan didn’t know what to do, so he listened. His eyes widened on the sword when it swung it right through him – it didn’t hurt him or the soul, though, so that was a break at least.

Frisk surged forward and pet the dog. “I’ve been pet!?” It brought the sword around and they stood stock still as the blue magic phased through them. Maybe there could be a scientific explanation for it. Shane would get a kick out of that. 

“Doggo has been pet,” Frisk declared.

“I’m not one to doubt you, kid,” he replied.

Ryan and Frisk bowed, and the fight ended. “Something p-p-pet me… s-s-something that wasn’t m-m-moving. I’m going to need some dog treats for this!” The dog jumped back into the sentry station and didn’t come back out. 

“Let’s…”

Ryan nodded. “Yeah, let’s.”

Sans was just up ahead at another fork in the path. Frisk slid on the ice, trying to get to the sign in the middle of the patch, as Ryan stopped, taking a breather next to Sans.

“hey, here’s something important to remember, while i got ya here,” Sans said. “my brother has a very special attack." Ryan's vision swam, changing imperceptibly. He could see Sans' words floating in the air above him, a lowercase Comic Sans and he squinted. Could other monsters see each other's conversations? "if you see a blue attack, don't move and it won't hurt you. here's an easy way to keep it in mind. imagine a stop sign. when you see a stop sign, you stop, right? stop signs are red, right? so imagine a blue stop sign instead. simple, right? when fighting, think about blue stop signs." Every color he said aloud flashed behind Ryan's eyes. He wanted to die, just a little bit.

"In yellow." He pressed hard against his eyes, blinking away the stars and letters. His vision went back to normal. “Yeah, I got it. Thanks for the light show,” he grumbled. He hoped he didn't get a headache. 

He blinked again as Sans said, “hey, no problem, bucko." Ryan groaned, craving a nap even more than before. 

“Hey, Ryan!” Frisk called. Ryan glanced over, still traumatized, but focused on Frisk anyway. They were reading the sign. “If we keep heading East, we’ll hit Snowdin town!”

“Sounds good. I’ll see ya, Sans.”

“see ya up ahead.”

Ryan and Frisk explored a little bit, encountering another monster. Their magic was much more mature than the Snowdrake’s, but just ignoring it was enough to spare them. A snowman asked Frisk to take a piece of him to see the rest of the underground, and Ryan had to admit, he was charmed.

They turned the corner and, directly ahead of them behind a snowbank, was Papyrus and Sans. The latter grinned at them, as Papyrus berated his brother for sleeping during the night. Which…?

“YOU’RE SO LAZY! YOU WERE NAPPING ALL NIGHT!”

“i think that’s called, ‘sleeping.’” 

“EXCUSES, EXCUSES.” Papyrus finally noticed them waiting. Ryan supposed they could have walked around the brothers, but Frisk seemed to enjoy their company. And, as much as it pained him, they were funny. “O-HO! THE HUMANS ARRIVE!

“IN ORDER TO STOP YOU, MY BROTHER AND I HAVE CREATED SOME PUZZLES. I THINK YOU’LL FIND THIS ONE… QUITE SHOCKING! FOR YOU SEE, THIS IS THE INVISIBLE ELECTRICITY MAZE!”

Ryan pinched the bridge of his nose. He hoped not everyone was as obsessed with puns as these skeletons.

Papyrus explained the puzzle. He would give them an orb to hold, and every time they messed up the course, the orb would set off an electrical zap. Really, the premise was easy enough. “Alright, kid, follow my lead.” Ryan stepped onto the maze and looked up sharply when electricity crackled in the air. Papyrus was being electrocuted – _Jesus Christ!_ – and Ryan hurriedly stepped out of the snowbank. He looked dazedly at Ryan and Frisk, his bones singed and clothes smoking.

Thankfully, he didn’t seem to blame them. “SANS! WHAT DID YOU DO?” he yelled, stomping angrily towards his brother.

Sans put up his hands in a placating manner, but his smile was wide. He was clearly enjoying himself. “i think the human has to hold the orb.”

“OH! ALRIGHT!”

Papyrus trekked across the maze, leaving a trail of footprints in his wake. He walked up to Ryan and reached up, placing the orb on his head. “Uh… thanks?”

“NOT A PROBLEM, HUMAN!”

Papyrus scurried back, and Ryan pursed his lips to keep from laughing. He gave himself five seconds before he breathed out and looked down at Frisk, careful not to dislodge the orb. “Just follow my lead, sound good?”

They nodded and covered their mouth. Frisk couldn’t hide that expression, though – they were close to breaking. Ryan followed the footprints. 

It was almost no surprise, and very funny, that Papyrus gave away the puzzle direction, but God, he looked so proud that they walked across the snowbank without getting hurt, if his beaming face was any indication.

“INCREDIBLE! YOU SLIPPERY SNAILS. YOU BOTH SOLVED IT EASILY.” His eye sockets narrowed in suspicion. “TOO EASILY… HOWEVER!” he yelled with his regular zest. “THE NEXT PUZZLE WAS DESIGNED BY MY BROTHER SANS! YOU WILL SURELY BE CONFOUNDED – I KNOW I AM! NYEH HEH HEH!” 

Wow, Papyrus really had a thing for dramatic exits.

“hey, thanks. my brother seems like he’s having fun. by the way, did you see that weird outfit he’s wearing? we made that a few weeks ago for a costume party. he hasn’t worn anything else since. he keeps calling it his ‘battle body.’” He paused. “man, isn’t my brother cool?”

It seemed like a rhetorical question, but Frisk nodded anyway, so Ryan said, “Yeah, he sure is something.”

Sans’ tense posture relaxed a bit and he gave them a lazy smile. Ryan hadn’t even noticed the skeleton was tense. He gave ‘em a wave and Ryan and Frisk moved forward, crossing another short bridge.

There was a small incline, with a snowball game set up to land in a hole-in-one. “You want to play, Frisk? I could take a minute to relax.”

They stared at the snowball for a moment, narrowing their eyes at it, before running full force and kicking it towards the hole. 

Ryan smiled to himself before he walked past an ice cream stand, sitting down next to a tree. There was a sudden gust of wind, and Ryan shivered, pulling his jacket closer to him. 

He wasn’t made for this weather. 

For the first time since he fell down, he just… wanted to go home. Really wanted to go home. It had been thrumming beneath his thoughts for a while, but he’d been pushing it off to the side, so Frisk didn’t see him feeling hopeless. So much for that.

He wanted to hang out with his noisy, asshole roommates. He wanted to go to his parents’ house and eat tamales and tortillas and pretend he wasn’t giving any to the dogs. He wanted to go to another haunted house, just to feel his usual, normal type of fear. The type of fear that was quick, ran up his adrenaline, and made him feel alive. This fear, that he was stuck with down here… this was constant, and tiring, and weighed down his mind, heavier than any type of anxiety he had before.

He didn’t know if he was going to see the sun again.

And, God, he wanted Shane. 

Selfishly, so damn selfishly, he wished he had fallen down here with him. It would be so much easier, because then they could fall back into their usual banter, and they could entwine their fingers and just– support each other, and Frisk. What would Shane think, now that he wasn’t answering his calls? Would he think he’s pissed? Upset? Or that he was just… forgetting about him? 

Ryan wondered if Shane knew that he wouldn’t ever be able to forget about him.

“Ryan! I won four gold!” Frisk suddenly shouted from across the ice patch.

“That’s great, Frisk!” he said, trying to muster up a cheerful voice. It came out more muted than he’d have liked, but at least he didn’t sound angry or upset. He groaned as he pushed himself up, shaking out his legs. It was way too cold for him to be sitting on snow, but whatever. “C’mon, kiddo, let’s get a move on.”

“Down here, I saw Papyrus come this way,” they said, and Ryan complied, walking down past the hole-in-one, which had a short flag sticking out of it. Huh. That’s kind of cute.

At least the underground wasn’t boring, or too threatening, he tried to reason with himself. He sighed internally. It didn’t make him feel any better.

Frisk put up a hand and Ryan stared at it for a second, before grabbing it. They squeezed it, like they knew exactly what he’d been thinking about, and shame boiled through him, heating his chest. He should have waited until they were asleep, or something. 

They passed through a small cluster of trees and the skeleton brothers were on the other side. Ryan squinted as he looked around, blinking a few times in case his contacts fell out. Where was the puzzle?

“HUMAN! I HOPE YOU’RE READY FOR…” Papyrus stopped and blinked. He looked at his brother and whined, “Sans, where is the puzzle?” in a muted tone.

“it’s right there. on the ground.”

Ryan looked down. Sure enough, there was a piece of paper on the ground. 

“trust me, there’s no way they can get past this one,” he said.

Ryan eyed him dubiously as he and Frisk parted. They picked up the paper and, on it, was a word search. “Well, there’s ‘monsters.’”

“And ‘giasfclfebrehber,’” Frisk added helpfully. 

“You didn’t even give us a pen.” Ryan looked up. “How are we supposed to finish it?”

“you don't.” Sans winked. This bitch did not…

“SANS!”

“whoops. i knew i should have done today’s crossword instead.”

“WHAT!?” Somehow, Papyrus seemed even more enraged. “CROSSWORD!? I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU SAID THAT! IN MY OPINION, JUNIOR JUMBLE IS EASILY THE HARDEST.”

“what?” Now Sans sounded incredulous. It felt like Ryan was watching a tennis match. “that easy-peasy word scramble? that’s for baby bones.”

“Un. BELIEVABLE! HUMANS! SOLVE THIS DISPUTE!”

Ryan and Frisk looked at each other. Frisk gave him a look. Ryan pursed his lips. Frisk’s look intensified. He bit the inside of his cheek and said, “Junior Jumble is a bit harder; I think.” Frisk nodded in agreement.

“SEE! HUMANS MUST BE VERY INTELLIGENT BEINGS IF THEY TOO ARE SO EASILY JAPED BY JUNIOR JUMBLE. NYEH HEH HEH!”

He gave them a smile and walked away. 

“hey, thanks for siding with my bro. last week, he got stumped trying to ‘solve’ the horoscope.”

“You know what?” Ryan shook his head. “That’s a goddamn mood. C’mon, Frisk,” he said.

They crossed another boundary of trees, this time no skeleton brothers joking around. A dish of spaghetti sat on a plate, next to an unplugged microwave. Frisk tugged on his jacket and they pointed. He followed their gaze, where it landed on a mouse door.

Knowing that one day the mouse might be able to heat up the spaghetti filled him with determination.

He blinked and shook his head fitfully. He didn’t notice the note on the ground. “Huh. Alright, let’s keep going,” he said.

A dog carrying a large shield and longsword jumped out from behind a tree and the room darkened. The combined soul lifted between the three of them and Ryan quickly stood in front of Frisk and directed the heart upwards.

“Let’s pet the dog,” Frisk suggested, peeking out from behind him.

This is a terrible idea.

… He didn’t know what else to do.

“Alright,” he conceded. Together, they both pet the dog on its head. 

Its tail started wagging and its neck extended upwards. Despite its excitement, it swung the sword, the magic encasing it in blue just as Ryan ducked. 

He bowed, as Frisk gave the dog another pat on the head, before they bowed too. It happily panted, trotting away from them. The cavern brightened again, a piece of metal glinting in the newly lightened area, hiding between a couple of trees.

Unable to help himself, he walked towards it and raised his brow when he saw it was a lever. Ryan pulled it and there was a clicking sound down the way.

“Neato,” he said. Frisk smiled at him, before grabbing his hand and leading him down the other pathway. It seemed he accidentally solved the puzzle, before looking at the clues. Who woulda thought?

They guided him through a hillier area, crossing a short, wooden bridge. He froze when he heard two loud, clamoring footsteps.

“Frisk…” he said. Their hand tightened in his.

Two dogs holding huge axes surrounded them, their noses sticking out of matching cloaks.

“What’s that smell?”

“Who’s that smell?”

“If you are a smell…”

“... identify yoursmelf!”

They ran around them, sniffing them and the ground.

They stopped in front of Ryan.

“Hmmm… here’s that weird smell.”

“It makes me want to eliminate.”

“Eliminate you!”

The room darkened. Their soul popped out. It felt foreboding. 

“I don't think we should try to pet them,” he murmured to Frisk. They nodded. He stuck out his hand to let them sniff him again. 

“You still smell weird!” one of them shouted.

He shoved Frisk behind him and directed the soul up as they swung their axes in sync. Ryan’s eyes widened. He left an–

He sucked in a sharp intake of breath as blood spurted out of his chest, white hot pain overwhelming him. His vision blurred and he fell backwards onto the ground.

“Ryan, Ryan, Ryan,” someone chanted next to him. “No, no, no, no, I don't know if saves work yet, since you’re here. Ryan, open your mouth. Ryan…”

Their voice faded.

Distantly, he heard bells ringing.

His eyes closed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oooooh shit, cliffhangerrrr.
> 
> new chaoter will be out sometime next week :-)
> 
> if you enjoyed, please leave me some feedback! would love to hear what you think <3
> 
> love, lexi xxxx


	5. A Cheerful Town Can't Damper Misery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The shenanigans are getting to Ryan and everyone knows misery loves company.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I haven't said this, but I desperately need to say: thank you so much for reading. I appreciate the support I've received for this fic so much and I can never express how grateful and how happy I am people actually seem to enjoy it. I love hearing feedback from all of you, and so, I reiterate: thank you. 💙
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter - it's been a long time coming!

> **̸̜̠̤͛͐̇̓͒Ť̶̟͚̤͓̟͆̕H̷̘̺̳̟̦̭̀̅͘ͅÉ̵͎̭̦̈̌̓͝ͅ ̸̣̞̤̝̥̙̖̗͍̽̑̾̀̈́͝P̷̫̮̬̮̔A̴̯̻̪̻̼͛̽͌̐͊̈́͂S̶̠̞͔̆̏̅̀̿̇T̶̘̘̺̦̲̲̣̓̅,̴̫̗̞̩̙̝̱͉̂̽͐ͅ ̷̭̩̈́͒̓̍̄́̐͊͘Ṫ̴̡̨̨̳̖͎̖̙̍̆H̷͍̩̹͎̗͇̜̭̥̙͐̄̓͒̇̎̒E̶̲̳̘̟͍͙̝̎̇̈́̃̓̓̈ͅ ̴̥̻͓͍̩͖͔̭̣̓͗̇̇͋͆̍͑͘P̴͎͕͑́̄͂̏̃͑̾̚R̴̫̄̐̕E̸̢͇̖͎̦̖̻̝̼͑̄͆̆͆̚͝Ş̷̡̖̗͓̦̗͓̋̇̈̆̐̽͘͝Ę̷̻͓̮͔͚̖̳̦̲̄Ņ̷͙̭̃̇̈́́̑̾̋̕Ţ̵̡̣̞̻̭͕͕̆̀̏̋̄̓͆͒͘͜,̶̢̥͚̯̭̐̈͌ ̷̢͎̲͓̣̝͓̞̱̞̆͗͆̄̿̈́͋T̵̺͎͋̾̋̽̉̊̽̃̕͝H̷͎̺͓̣̮̠̪̾̅̉̇̔͑̾̿͝E̸̛̟̘̹̙̞̬͈͉͐̋̈́͑̏͂͝ ̸̢̹̟̔!̵̢̞͓̻͇͙̖̼͌̿̈̀͂̌͝@̶̧͙̞̞̞̮̒͋̕̚͝ͅ#̵̨̥͍̗̬̳̮̍̿̆͋͜͜͜$̸̢̪͓̹̘̭͒̔͗͌̑͂̆͆̚%̴̨̪͓̝̪͙̙͚͔̌̍̉͌̚͝ &̷̨͉̥̲̲̺̊̍̈̍̅̉͝,̴̩̪̼͎̰͙̣̼̿̎̎͠͝ ̶͎̯̞͙̬̣̱̜̓͐͒̎̾̕V̵̘̓̾̽͛̅Ỏ̵̯̩͍͖͈̣̈͜Ḭ̷̡̭͍̋͛̎̋̔̚D̵̛͇̠͈̱͇̮͇̟͐̀̅͌̑̎̀̚͠E̸̛͙̠͈͇̖̬͒̌̍̋ͅD̶̤̤̲̺̱͉̰̪̍͊̾̏̇̒̈́̊͠͝,̶̯̊̃̓̔̎͊̅̿͠ ̶͔͔̳̳̩̬͎͋E̸͙͉̦̳͐R̴̛̲͕̐͌̈́ͅͅR̸͖̖͓͐͂̒̊̚̕͠͝Ơ̸̼̝̳̹̙̤̘̭͓̄Ṙ̸̨̭̰͖̣͂̔̄͊̚͝E̵̢͙̲̤̘̺̯͒̑͐̇̆̆Ȑ̶̥͕̝̥̆̇̋͆́̓̕R̸̛͕̦̟̣̾͊͒Ō̴̡̭͇̱͈͈̎̈͐R̶̦͊̏̓̎E̴͕̻̮̒̒̈́̃͂͂̾R̷̗̰̬̮͜R̴̡͚̦̳̪̣̀͜Ơ̷̛̺͗̅̓̒͐̓R̶̬̺̬͒̒̍**

“Ryan,” Shane whispered. His warm breath tickled Ryan’s cheek, and there was an arm slung around his waist. Blearily, he tried to open his eyes, but the room was dark, way too dark to see anything. Too dark to tell if his eyes were even open. “C’mon, buddy, you’re gonna be alright.” He couldn’t turn his head. It was too dark – an eternal blackness that felt suffocating. “Wake up, Ry, c’mon,” he said.

It was too dark. Why could he feel Shane, but not see him? Why could he hear an edge of fear in his voice? Why was it so d̷̾a̵͘r̴k̵?

Ryan tried to tighten his hold on Shane, but as soon as he felt his familiar, supple skin, it was yanked away from him and he was suspended over o̶p̵ē̴̊n ai̶r. He opened his mouth, fruitlessly trying to scream, before there was a hand on his cheek and cloth on his forehead.

His body jolted upwards and he tensed, landing hard in his childhood bed, quivers going up and down his arms and legs. It was still pitch black, but he’d remember the smell of his mother’s shampoo anywhere.

A familiar hand ran its fingers through Ryan’s hair. He tried to close his eyes, but he couldn’t tell if he’d actually done the motion. The world was dark, but his mind was empty. It was hard to distinguish reality from… whatever this was. “Shh, baby, you’ll be okay, it was just a nightmare,” his mother murmured. He tried to push into the caress, but as soon as he was able to shift, the phantom touch d̶͊isap̶p̵ea̵̎red, just like before. He tried to say something, but all that came out was static.

He was suspended over open air and this sensation was achingly familiar; wind behind his back, arms extended up, reaching as if he could catch a stray branch – or a small body. He was falling, f̴̒all̵in̴̏g,̴ f̸a̶l̴̉̕l̴͋̊ĭ̵̃̌̾n̶͊g̴̀͒ ̴̛̀̽́͝s̸̈́͌̍t̵̓̎ĭ̴̄̂̆̆͝l̶͑͋̾l.

“Ryan, you have to stay determined,” someone else said, and distantly, Ryan recalled a spike of pain and a spreading numbness. The glint of steel slashing down his front, and red.

So much red.

It was so dark.

“H—help…” he forced out; a breathy plea already forgotten. He tried to hope, but...

He tried to hope...

He tried...

̸̵̵̭̬͇͙̭̫͒̓̓͂B̵̶̵̧̮̩͉̟͙̞̟̦̣̍̑̊͋̅͠͝ú̷̱̭̤̽͑̔̒t̴̶̸̷̷̢̨̨̗̖̦͕͍̥̪̳̘͔͎͖͖̻͈̫͖̦̜̞̯̼͈̠͈͒̔̎̏̆͐̌̔̃̏̋̿͑̓̊͌̓͊̐̒͂̇̐̈́̈́͛̒̚͘͘̚͝͠͝͠ ̸̢̯̫̙̪̩̠͙̭̈́̂̇̉̓͝ͅn̸̵̴̵̸̶̴̨̡̧̢̡̗̖̘̫͙͇̗͚̹͔̝̲̙̭̳̣̲͓̜̗͖͔̗͚̻̗͓̻̤̗̪͈̣͉̝̭̻̪̒͑͗̓̈́͐̾̓͗͗̆̅́̅́̈͛̒̅̊̌̈́̉̈́̇͂̎͋͐̏̃̾̒̉̇̑͑̋̅̆͛͘͝͝ͅǫ̴̵̷̸̴̴̡̛͔̘̗̦̘͔̰͇̱͖͍̯̠̠̭̖̥̤̆̈́̈́̒̉́̀͋̆͌͛̄̎̎̓̏̄̉̏̾̈́̂̓̊̕͘̕͜͜͝͝͝ͅb̸̷̵̷̴̷̷̶̧̢̛̛̜̠̳̼̪̠̗̭̺̰̥͓̬̙͔̞͕͕̼̟͈̳͕̳̪͙̦̩̥̼̞̲̲̬̪̣̱̥̪̗̒̄͊͂̽̌̌̍̍̍̏̒̓͆̃̑͆̂̇̽̓̄͂̄̇̀̓̽͆̈́̎̋̕̕̚͜ͅͅo̵̴̴̶̧̢̢̨͖̺̱͍͓͍̜̰͔̯͕̲͐̐̒̍͐̓̀̇͋̓̄̆̓̑̿͂̕͘͜ͅͅḑ̷̸̵̵̷̢̛̣͖̟͉̫͇̟̠͇̹̬̗̯͎͈̦̱͈͇̞̪̙̪̀̇͌͑̆̋̑͛̏͒̐̓̏̈̆͛̌̈̊͜͜ŷ̶̸̶̸̴̶̶̧̨̢̛̫̩̻͎͍̮̟̟͖̠̼̲̻̤͙̲͎̱̼̙̘̖̠̪͋̌̒̐̈́̿̋̄̋̋̃̾̋̆̂͆͑̽̋͒͑͌̚̕̚͝͝͝͝ ̵̶̸̷̨̢̧̢̛̛̛͈͎͖̱̣̠̘͔̤͈͓̼̞̪̲̰͖̲̦̝̓́͒̊̄̆̈́͌̓̔̂̓͒̍̽̚͜͠͠͠c̶̷̷̴̴̷̴̷̸̷̡̢̧̧̧̛̦̗̯̪̪̫̲̪͖̩̦̣͇̫͕̣͙͔͉̭̜̮͚̤͙̟͍̩̪̯̥͈̣͕̦̗͕̼̪͔̻̦̳̲̝͚̱̰͛̃́̏̉̔̊͂̎̿̈́̈͑̇̄̇͌͗͛͑̍̃͐͛̀͂̔͐̄̿̈́̽͊̉̒̒̽̽̃͊̕̕̕͘̚͘͘͝͠ͅa̵̶̷̸̴̷̵̴̵̷̷̴̷̡̨̡͎͚̤͚͕̯̲̪̻̳͚̹̥͇͉̞̗͓̜̳̝̱̙̟͚̬̺̪̰̰̼͙̮̗̺̲̮̼̩̤̤͚̜̩͎̻͙͓̲͕̣̞̞̻̬̗̫̱̘̳̙̝͇̙͗͛̉̿̂̈̌͒̍̈̇̎̽͒̈́̏̂͊̿̈́̈́̎͐̊̂̑͆͛̄̉̏̔̎̾̾̌̽͛̾̄̐̃̂̒̃̀̿̿̈̄͘̚͘̚̚̕͘͠͠͝͝ͅm̸̷̶̷̵̵̵̷̴̡̧̢̧̡̡̨̨͚̠̯͖̩̥͈̹̹̙͚̙͖͇̭̰̩̲̘̘̭͚̼̟̫̟͚̼̰̺̲̝̟̟͉̪̲͕̏͛̉̆̍̒͋͑̌̔̌̑̾̓̓̄̆̇͑̃̓̈́̉̃̾̆̓͆͑͛̆͆͆̆̒̾̎̆͋͘̚̚̚͜͝͠ͅȩ̴̵̸̶̶̵̶̸̴̶̶̸̶̵̶̷̵̡̧̨̨̧̨̢̛̰̺̤̩̝̞̠̤̖̤̻̝͖̱͎͙̱̪̥̱̟̱̠̼̜̯͓̮͙̘̯̳̱̠̻̰͓̬̱͚͚̰̼̯̙̣̰̗̩̬̩̟̲͖͙̲̜̻̠̙̟̠̺͔͓̟͂̐͆̄͊̈̐̒͆̽̌̆̓̒̀̇̂̓̐̒̉̌̃̉͛̑̇̇̉̎̅̏̑́̓̏͒̒̾͆̂̈́̃̽̂̐̆͑̈́͑̌͗̿̐̊̑̌͑̈́̊̑͋̌̑̑̒͒̑̉̈̂̕̕̚͘͘̕͘͜͜͠͝͝͝͠ͅ

💙

**SNOWDIN FOREST, MOUNT EBOTT, YUKON, CANADA**

Knowing that, one day, the mouse might be able to heat up the spaghetti filled him with determination.

Ryan blinked. A sense of déjà vu washed over him, but as he took in his surroundings – a plate of pasta, an unplugged microwave, a note lying in a risen snowbed – he knew he had never been here.

He frowned to himself.

Of course, he’d never been here.

He was in the Underground.

“Ryan?” Frisk called tentatively. They were squeezing his hand hard, their nails just beginning to dig into the skin on the back of his hand. It didn’t sting yet, probably because of the gloves.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts, a little confused, but feeling much more level headed than before. “Yeah, what’s up, kid?” he asked.

“Can we go get some ice cream?” they asked, their eyes wide and pleading. They looked shaken, but the skeleton brothers hadn’t said anything too creepy or out of the ordinary. For them, at least.

Maybe they were just starting to think about how they were stuck in the Underground, too. Maybe this cavern was beginning to get to them.

Ryan nodded quickly after that dour thought, though he didn’t really want to get it. It was freezing out, and he didn’t want them to get sick. “Yeah, sure. What happened? Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I just… want some ice cream.” The words were stilted, and they evaded his eyes, but he accepted the explanation without any verbal complaint. They were still a kid and he definitely wasn’t their parent. Might as well indulge.

Hopefully it wouldn’t hurt ‘em.

They backtracked past Sans’ crossword and ordered a couple of “nice” creams from the stand.

Frisk didn’t let go of his hand, even when they reached into their pocket to give the monster gold pieces. Ryan raised a brow as they stepped away from the blue monster, who looked considerably happier than before.

“Where’d you get so many coins from? That’s monster currency, yeah?”

They nodded, then shrugged, licking their cone. “They leave behind gold every time we fight. I just pick it up afterwards.”

“Huh.” His brow creased. “How strange. I never noticed them dropping it.” He shrugged. “Welp. Better for us. Let’s keep going.”

They heaved out a sigh, a mixture of amusement and hesitance, and shifted. “Okay,” they said. Then they squinted and pointed. “Hey, we never went up that path.”

Ryan looked where they were pointing towards and he realized they were right. He squinted. It looked like two more sentry stations. “Huh. Let’s go see what’s up there.”

They leisurely walked over the bridge and up the path; the cave ceiling was short here, icicles hanging prettily above the trees. There were two sentry stations, like Ryan originally thought, but in between them was a sign.

He glanced at Frisk and they seemed to be reading it intently, while very seriously taking a bite of their nice cream. He turned his attention back to the sign.

**SMELL DANGER RATING:**

Snow Smell – Snowman

**WHITE Rating**

Can become YELLOW Rating.

Unsuspicious Smell – Puppy

**BLUE Rating**

Smell of rolling around.

Weird Smell – Humans

**GREEN Rating**

It was good they went back; this would probably help them later on when figuring out how to get out of fights; there must be more dog monster battles up ahead.

“Ready to go, Frisk?”

They nodded and they followed their footprints back down the trail, going through Sans’ puzzle room again. Frisk paused at the microwave and Ryan stopped, letting them collect themself before moving forward.

“Are you okay?” Frisk asked him suddenly.

Ryan startled. “Yeah, why?”

“Are you sure?” they insisted.

Ryan stopped and turned towards them, their hand still in his. And he thought: Was he okay?

He felt better than he did before. Just a few minutes ago, he felt like he was falling apart, on the precipice of another cliff, ready to fall into a spiral of anxieties about the unknown. But now, his head was clearer; he was taking in his surroundings and even appreciating some of the beauty the Snowdin forest had to offer. Sure, monsters kept attacking them, but it was just like Toriel said: as long as they engaged them in conversation, they were able to spare them. In a weird way, Ryan’s mind was clearer than it’d been since before he left L.A.

So, when he smiled softly down at Frisk and replied, “Yeah, I’m sure,” he could appreciate the warmth of Frisk’s grin as they continued down the path without having to worry that he was lying to them. Because, as odd as it was, he was okay. As okay as he could be in this weird situation.

They made their way past the spaghetti and there was a twitch under Ryan’s eye. He turned, just as a dog jumped out from behind a tree.

Ryan frowned at it, another sensation of déjà vu washing over him. He didn’t hesitate to pet the dog, even as it swung its sword around, rapidly shifting between an actual blade and soft, non-disemboweling magic. Frisk did the same, and, to Ryan’s alarm, its neck elongated.

Higher.

And higher.

And higher.

The longer they pet, the higher it went. The Lesser Dog – where had he heard that name before? – panted happily, its tail wagging excitedly.

Its head became eye level with Ryan before he definitively said, “Okay, I think we’re all petted out.” The Lesser Dog didn’t think any lesser of them and licked Frisk on the side of their face before trotting away.

“C’mon, let’s keep going!” Frisk said, pulling him further along into the cavern. The ceiling was much lower than before, sharpened rock hanging low enough for Ryan to reach up and touch, if he wanted to.

At the winding turn, spikes stuck out of the ground, similar to the ones in the Ruins. Frisk let go of his hand as he studied them.

“You know what? I could probably pick you up and just step over them; they’re too tall for you to try to do that, but– holy shit!” Ryan jumped back as the spikes receded back into the ground with a loud click! He overbalanced and shouted as he fell into a pile of snow, landing hard on his ass.

Frisk laughed at him as they wrapped around the corner.

“And where did you go?” he demanded mulishly. Frisk continued to grin merrily, much to his faux chagrin. “Alright, alright, help this old man up,” he said, not taking his own word as he pushed himself up. He wiped the snow off his pants as best as he could, but it was no use: they were already soaked through.

“Let’s get cookin’,” Frisk said and took off, walking across the narrow passageway, over another wooden bridge.

They stopped suddenly in the middle of the cavern, staring at something down the new path. “Frisk? You alright?”

He followed their gaze and froze.

Two dogs wielding axes stood at the entrance to get further underground. Ryan didn’t hear what they said as a wave of pain flooded his head as he stared at the glinting metal. He winced and panicked as their connected soul popped out.

“Ryan, we have to roll around in the snow,” Frisk whispered.

“What?”

“The puppy smell!”

The realization dawned and he dropped like a fly. “Great thinking, kid, holy shit.”

They both rolled around in the snow as the dogs circled them, swinging their battle axes around. Frisk dodged, and so did Ryan, but they hit the soul.

Frisk gasped, as Ryan inhaled sharply as stinging needle-like pains shot down his arms. Oh, that hurt. That hurt like a bitch.

New plan when in battle: the soul was the priority, not his body.

“We should let them smell us, now that we don't smell like… y’know,” Frisk said.

He squinted at them but nodded. His contacts felt gummy in his eyes; he’d have to take them out soon. Maybe as soon as this battle was over.

They started to put out their hand, but Ryan thrust his out first and shot them a look. They stared back, unrepentant.

Meanwhile, the dogs were having a jolly good time, saying sickly sweet things to one another. Even Ryan and Shane wouldn’t be that bad.

Maybe.

One of them came up to Ryan’s hand and sniffed. Their head shot up in alarm and the other one came bounding closer, getting a good sniff as well.

“What? It smells like a…?”

“Are you actually a little puppy?!” one of them demanded.

“Y’know, considering we’re puppies, they still have some pretty messed up attacks,” Ryan muttered as they threw hearts towards the soul. Frisk giggled.

“Let’s pet them!”

“Frisk…”

But it was too late. They were already petting one of them. Ryan sighed and pet the other one.

“Dogaressa!”

“Dogamy!”

“Pet by another pup!”

“Our world view has been expanded!”

“Thanks, weird puppies!

They trotted off and the soul disappeared from view.

There was a loud groaning rumble and Ryan realized, to his embarrassment, it was his stomach. “Alright, we can’t wait any longer,” Ryan said. They looked up at him, startled. He pulled off his bag. “We need to drink and eat real food. I know you had ice cream, but if it’s anything like human ice cream, it’s not actually going to provide you with any substance.”

“Isn’t ice cream made out of milk?”

“Yeah?”

“So, there’s calcium in it! So, it’s healthy!”

Ryan blinked and stared down at them, unimpressed. “Your logic is flawed. Like, so flawed. We’re both drinking a bottle of water, right now. And we’re going to have a granola bar. It’s certainly not Toriel’s pie – which wasn’t healthy, either, but at least had some substance to it – but it’ll have to do.”

He unzipped the bag and pulled out two bottles, handing one to Frisk.

“Okay, but,” Frisk started. “The water is easy. We can drink the water, but why don't we wait to eat? At least a little bit. We might run into the town.”

Honestly, he was kind of impressed the kid could bargain so well. Then he had a thought. “Do you think they make food out of the same things we do?” he asked. “I mean, we saw some vegetoids back in the Ruins, but those were monsters, and I doubt anyone here is a cannibal. Or… I don't know. But fine," Ryan finally conceded. "We’ll wait for the town; we can save the granola bars if we get hungry on the road. Drink the water, then we’ll get going.”

They smiled. “Okay!”

“And, before I forget…” Ryan dropped the bag on the ground and carefully pinched the skin under his eye. He pulled on it, gently, and stared straightforward as he plucked the contact out of his eye.

“Eww!” Frisk exclaimed, scrunching up their nose at him.

He blinked a couple times, before he did the same to the other eye. “Battle wise, it’d probably be best to wear– Aha!” He grabbed the contact and pulled it out, cradling it in his hand with the other one. He pulled out his glasses case and opened it open. He took out the contact container, unscrewed it, and let them plop inside, before closing it back up. He unfolded his glasses and pushed them high onto the bridge of his nose, breathing out in relief. He didn’t realize how much they’d been starting to bother him. “It’d probably be best to wear contacts when battling, but my eyes need a break.” He blinked a few times and looked back down at Frisk.

“Still. Gross.”

“Don't get bad vision, kid. Then you won’t have to worry about it.” They stuck out his tongue at him and he rolled his eyes. After putting everything away, he picked up the bag and flung it over his shoulder. “C’mon, let’s get going.”

💙

> **SNOWDIN FOREST, MOUNT EBOTT, YUKON, CANADA**

Ryan and Frisk ran into Sans and Papyrus a few more times, this time going over new puzzles and showing them what to do. They really didn’t have to do them; Ryan was tall enough that they could just walk over the spikes, after all. But Frisk seemed to be genuinely enjoying themself, and Ryan liked to watch Papyrus shout. It reminded him of basketball games, and family parties, and L.A., but in a good way.

Not only that, though; the puzzles were intriguing. They were nothing like the ones in the Ruins; these were more hands on and captivating; not reliant on wordplay. Ryan wouldn’t mind talking to Papyrus about them, if he got the chance. He wondered if puzzles were a part of monster culture, or if it was simply a defense against humans.

The latter was a much more depressing thought, so he just focused on the positive.

The puzzle he was working on _clacked!_ underneath Ryan’s feet, and the bridge raised, opening up the pathway straight ahead. He waved his arm forward. “C’mon, Frisk! Make sure you know where to start – you don't need to go falling into the snow like I did.”

The puzzle wasn’t too hard – he had to turn all of the switches green for the route to raise – but he made quite a few mistakes, which had sent him hurtling over the icy edge, landing in a pile of snow next to two snow skeletons.

Well, one snow skeleton. The other snow skeleton was a pile of snow that had “sans” written on it; it smelled suspiciously like ketchup.

Frisk laughed, but nodded solemnly, before they determined where the best place was to cross. The ice in Snowdin was interesting, too; as soon as he traveled across it, he couldn’t change direction. He wondered if he’d be able to on ice skates before dismissing the thought. He’d only ever roller-bladed when he was a kid, and he doubted there were ice skates down here in his size, anyway.

When they slid across the ice up to him, Ryan turned and studied the forest up ahead. The pathway was icy, but the trees were too closely knit together for them to go around; they’d have to hope the path wasn’t a dead end. He didn’t think the monsters had it in them to be so cruel as to plan a literal death trap, but who knew? They’d only fought them so far, aside from Papyrus and Sans. And Flowey had said...

But he shook his head; Ryan knew that assessment was wrong. They were easily spared and didn't seem to relish in harming them. The monsters they've met thus far were good.

Well. Except for the flower.

“Why don't you wait a sec, Frisk? I want to make sure it’s safe.”

They shrugged and he took a deep breath, before settling himself on the ice and letting it slide him forward. The forest around him was dense; he ducked when a few branches were ready to smack him in the face. A bit of snow fell on his head, but the trees were already clearing, and he could see the next fork in the road.

When he stopped, he called out, “We’re all clear!” to Frisk and soon, he heard them clamoring up behind him. He turned and gave ‘em a grin. “Right or left?”

They stared at him, before letting out a loud laugh. “There’s a house on your head!”

“Huh?”

“A snow house!”

He patted the top of his head and he realized they were right; there was a cold, but feather-light box on the top of his head with a pointed top. It must have been the lingering magic of monsters in the area. He smiled and said, “I guess I do. Let’s see if it stays put. Now, left, or right?”

“Right,” said Frisk decisively after thinking for a moment.

“Good choice,” he said, and they went down the right path.

Sans was standing there against the wall.

“what’s up?” he asked with a wide smile.

“Nothing much,” Ryan replied. He turned and kept walking forward with Frisk. “You know, I wonder if there’s any informa–” He stopped suddenly and stared ahead of him.

Sans stood there, with his hands in his pockets.

“say, are you following me?” he joked. His eye lights were a little brighter than usual.

Ryan looked back; it wasn’t a mirage. Sans was _actually_ in front of them.

“Can you teleport?”

He didn’t answer, instead staring at them with that same smile. It was actually a bit unnerving; Ryan forced himself not to take a step back, the hairs on his neck rising.

“Hey, uh, which way do we go to move forward?” Ryan asked instead.

“go back the way you came and then make a right. snowdin, the town, should be up ahead in the cavern.”

“Thanks!” Frisk said. They wore a bright, toothy grin; probably amused by Sans’ antics. He would be, too, if his stare didn’t seem so blank, even with the brightness and levity in his eyelights.

They turned around and Ryan didn’t move; Sans had appeared in front of them, again. He must have teleported as soon as their eyes left him.

“heh, you sure like to exercise,” he said as they passed.

Ryan thought he might prefer Papyrus, now, of the two brothers.

They followed Sans’ directions, walking through a corridor filled with snowballs. He looked around at them and frowned.

“You think the monsters were making snowmen?” Ryan asked.

Frisk considered this as they passed one. “No,” they said. “I think they’re just naturally occurring snow puffs.”

“Mm, probably,” he replied absently. The encounter with Sans left him a bit off kilter. He wasn’t even really scared, or anything; just nervous. It felt like he could see right through the skeleton’s easygoing facade and he didn’t like what he saw.

It felt like a threat.

Ryan shook the thoughts away. He hadn’t even said anything that nerve-wracking. Maybe it was just the teleportation in general. That’s an incredible scientific discovery, if it was scientific at all. Maybe some monsters could teleport; he’d have to look into it, if he got the chance.

They passed another sentry station – this one shaped like an actual doghouse – and Ryan could see a long bridge up ahead. “This might be it, Frisk! We might almost…” he trailed off.

A dog stuck its head out of the snow puff in the middle of the walkway.

It yipped at them, before it grew taller.

And taller.

And taller.

Until it was towering over _both_ of them.

It yipped again and their souls surged forward.

“Uhhh…”

“I have a stick,” Frisk offered. Without waiting for a reply, Frisk called out, “Hey, pup! Want to play fetch?” They whipped a stick out of nowhere – were they carrying it in their pocket this _whole_ time? – and threw it far across the field of snow puffs. The dog took off running and caught it mid-air. Ryan whistled lowly, and the dog came trotting back with it in its mouth. It sat down next to them and Frisk didn’t hesitate to pet its head.

Ryan bowed, and the souls disappeared as the battle ended.

The dog hopped out of its armor and ran up to Frisk, licking their cheek. They giggled and the dog jumped back into its armor, its tail sticking out of the wide collar. Ryan laughed and held out a hand to Frisk.

“Nice one, kid. C’mon, I think I see some light sparkling up ahead.”

They bound forward and started crossing the bridge. It was surprisingly sturdy – the rope was a little tattered and God only knew how old the wood was. But it held out when they both started crossing, and Ryan caught sight of the skeleton brothers at the end of it.

This oughta be a treat.

Frisk paused as soon as they saw them, and Papyrus noticed them right away. Sans was smiling at his brother, but it felt genuine this time. He didn’t seem so intimidating now, next to his brother.

“HUMANS! THIS IS YOUR FINAL AND MOST DANGEROUS CHALLENGE! BEHOLD, THE GAUNTLET OF DEADLY TERROR! WHEN I SAY THE WORD, IT WILL FULLY ACTIVATE!”

The cavern walls shifted, and different obstacles protruded, standing before them menacingly.

Ryan’s eyes widened. Flames shot out just beside him; there were two spears directed at him and the kid. A cannon stood proudly; its fuse ready to be lit by the fire. A ball of spikes swung back and forth, swaying in the air. Absurdly, there was a dog hanging by a secured rope, but Ryan didn't have it in him to pretend to be amused.

They were going to die. There was no way they could survive this.

Flowey was right.

He cursed himself; he shouldn’t have let himself get complacent just because they seemed nice. No wonder Sans’ smile seemed genuine now. _Fuck_. He lifted Frisk up and placed them behind him, before turning back around and facing them head on. He glared at the skeletons. “Stay behind me and get back,” he said. “When it starts, go back to the other side of the cavern. The Ruins–”

“No!”

“Kid, you can’t get hurt. I won’t let you get hurt. Go to the Rui–”

“You can’t either!”

“Kid–”

“Ry–”

Papyrus watched the exchange with wide eyes. Ryan glared at him, daring him to activate it, before turning around and kneeling. If he shot him while he was doing this, then… then he didn’t know what to think. He was already helpless and at his mercy; would he take an open shot at his back?

“Frisk,” he murmured. “Please.”

They searched his face, clearly frightened. Then, they took a few steps back.

Ryan bit his lip and closed his eyes. “Thank you,” he whispered before turning back around. He pushed his glasses onto the ridge of his nose and faced them head on. Sans’ smile didn’t look so genuine anymore; he was looking away, as if uncomfortable. Papyrus looked upset, the corners of his teeth lowered and a ridge in between his brow bones.

They didn’t have the right to be upset if they were about to kill him.

“Well?” he challenged.

“YOU KNOW… PERHAPS THIS CHALLENGE IS TOO DIFFICULT FOR THE HUMANS!” Papyrus said.

Ryan stared at him, emotion beginning to rise up in the pit of his stomach. _Don't hope, you dumb bastard, don't you hope_ , he mantra’d to himself.

“YEAH. THIS ONE WAS TOO EASY IN DEFEATING THE HUMANS!” He nodded to himself. “YEAH, WE CAN’T USE THIS ONE! I AM A SKELETON WITH STANDARDS! MY PUZZLES ARE VERY FAIR! AND MY TRAPS ARE EXPERTLY COOKED! BUT THIS METHOD IS TOO DIRECT! AWAY IT GOES!”

All of the devices receded back into the walls. Including the dog. _This had to be a trick_.

“ANOTHER DECISIVE VICTORY FOR PAPYRUS! NYEH HEH HEH… HEH?”

Ryan watched as he departed and realized, with a jolt, that it wasn’t. It wasn’t a trick. The town stood proudly in front of them. Papyrus had disappeared out of sight. He wanted to cry out in relief. _It wasn't a trick._

“C’mon, Ryan,” Frisk suddenly said, sidestepping him and grabbing his hand. He followed them blindly, letting them guide him across the rest of the bridge.

There, Sans stood, his smile strained. It must be a permanent grin. Maybe since his head was a skull. Ryan didn’t fucking know anymore. He needed a stiff drink.

“you, uh, lost your snow house,” he said cheekily. Ryan stared at him without saying anything; he kept going from one emotional high to the next and truthfully, he didn't know how to respond to the playful banter. Sans closed his eyes. “heh. i don't know what my bro’s gonna do now. if i were you, i’d make sure you understand–” Static filled Ryan’s head as dark blue flashed behind his eyelids. He struggled not to wince. “–blue attacks.”

He didn’t say anything else and Ryan swallowed as Frisk tugged on his hand towards the town. Ryan sighed and turned, following their lead. His words still held a thinly veiled threat and Ryan wasn’t looking forward to it.

💙

> **SNOWDIN TOWN, MOUNT EBOTT, YUKON, CANADA**

Despite the edge the skeleton brothers set Ryan’s teeth on, Snowdin was extraordinary.

It looked like it came directly out of a fairy tale, with glistening Christmas lights, warm flames lighting up the sides of the main road, and the gingerbread on all of the buildings. A sign proudly declared, “Welcome to Snowdin Town!” with fairy lights adorning it and he could almost feel the pleasant, cheerful energy that went behind the creation of it.

Snowdin was mystical, magical; probably, Ryan reasoned, because it was.

“Let’s go explore!” Frisk said, staring in awe at the buildings ahead of them.

“Yeah. Why don't we stop in the shop? We can see if they have food,” Ryan offered. They nodded in agreement and began to walk up to the building with the emblazoned "SHOP" sign. Just as they were about to open the door, Ryan panicked. "Wait!"

They turned quickly, their eyes wide. "What?"

"We should try to hide we're... you know, right?" Of _course,_ they should, why was he questioning this?

"Um. Papyrus and Sans figured out pretty quickly we weren't..." They gestured towards the town.

"Okay, well, I think we'll just call them exceptions to the rule. If anyone asks, just try to deny it, okay?" When they nodded, he added, a bit peeved at himself, "I just want to make sure we're on the same page."

"I understand," they said, and pushed open the door, stepping through the threshold. Ryan followed.

A bunny monster stood inside at the counter, her fur a soft violet. The shelves were filled with a vast assortment of knick knacks: books, chests, a few bowls. But the thick aroma of sweet cinnamon filled the air and Ryan looked around, finally catching sight of a glass case filled with cinnamon buns. They were perfect.

“Hello, travellers. What can I do for y’all?” she asked, a Southern bell twang ringing throughout the shop. It was an odd accent to have – Toriel certainly hadn’t spoken like that, and none of the dogs or skeleton brothers did, either. Maybe the accent depended on the species of monster, rather than the geographical location.

“Hello!” Frisk said, giving her a little wave.

“Hiya!” she replied, shifting her attention towards them. “I can’t remember the last time I saw fresh faces around here. Where are y’all from?”

 _Where did Toriel say we would be going?_ Ryan wracked his brain, before sputtering out, “Uh, oh, y’know, the hotlands?” It came out like a question and Ryan wanted to hit himself.

“Ah, Hotland, yeah. Explains why I wouldn’t have seen y’all before. Furry critters like me don't head over there too often,” she said, winking at them. “So, what can I do for ya?”

Ryan refrained from a victory lap. “I was wondering what kind of food you have to sell,” Ryan said, forcing himself to grin.

She stared at him for a moment, her brows knitting together, before she said, “Well, we have a few options. We have our Bicicles, a favorite among Snowdians. They’re a flavoured icicle that you can eat twice! They recover 11 HP.” Ryan frowned at her, wondering what HP stood for, before she continued. “We also have our Cinnamon Buns! Shaped like bunnies and just as sweet, too. They’re my own recipe. Those recover 22 HP.”

“What are the Bicicles flavoured with?” Ryan asked.

“Vanilla and a hint of orange. A rarity in the underground, nowadays!” she said. She continued to stare at him. He couldn’t read her expression, but he hoped it wasn’t one of suspicion.

“Can we get two Cinnamon Buns and two Bicicles, please?” he asked. He looked down at Frisk and they nodded in concurrence.

“That’ll be 80 G, please,” she replied. Her smile tightened. _She might be testing us_ , Ryan realized. _She doesn’t think we’ll have it._

Ryan looked down and watched Frisk count out the exact change. They passed it over the counter and her eyes softened as she accepted it.

“I’ll be coming right up with that,” she said.

Ryan knelt down next to Frisk and lowered his voice. “I think she suspects, well, at least suspects I’m, y’know.” He gestured up and down at himself and repeated, “You know.”

Frisk pursed their lips. “Mhm.”

“Look around for a headband or something; I’m gonna try to find a disguise and not one that Thor would make.” The joke went over Frisk’s head, but they wouldn’t have had a chance to reply anyway, as the bunny monster came back.

“Here you go, bun,” she said, handing the bag to Frisk.

“So," he cleared his throat, "what is there to do here in Snowdin?” he asked.

“What’s there to do in Snowdin? Well, Grillby’s has food. The library has information. If you’re tired, you can stay at the inn for a night. It’s right next door – my sister runs it. And if you’re bored, you can sit outside and watch those wacky skeletons do their thing.” Her expression tightened again, though this time, it was clearly from the topic. Ryan bit the inside of his lip. “There’s two of ‘em. Brothers, I think. They just showed up one day and… asserted themselves. The town has gotten a lot more interesting since then.”

“I’ll bet.” An idea struck him. “Hey, would you mind if I recorded you and asked you a couple questions? I promise it won’t take too much time.”

“Record me? On what? _For_ what?”

If Toriel had a cell phone to give to Frisk, then they have to have them on this side of the door. “Y’know, on my phone? Dr. uh,” Ran floundered for a moment, then a name came to mind that Papyrus said. “Dr. Alphys designed it. And it'd be for research.”

“Oh, sure, then!” Any suspicion or doubt she might have had finally left her eyes and she smiled genuinely. “Is this for a class assignment?”

“Ah, no, more of a personal project,” he said, giving her toothy, winning grin.

She chuckled. “Well, alright then. Go on ahead, bun.”

Ryan could feel both of their eyes on him as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. He wiped open the camera and pressed ‘record.’

“And we are rolling. Can I get your name and occupation?” He wouldn’t bother with age; he didn't know how long lifespans were for monsters, anyway.

“My name is Plum, and I am the storekeeper of Snowdin,” Plum said primly. She crossed her arms over herself and smiled at the camera.

“Can you tell me a little bit about the town history?” Ryan prodded.

“Hm. Think back to your history class. A long time ago, monsters lived back in the Ruins, back there in the forest. Long story short, we all decided to leave and head for the end of the caverns. Along the way, some fuzzy folk decided they like the cold and set up camp in Snowdin.” Her brows furrowed and she looked at the two of them with something akin to sympathy. “Oh, and don't think you can go exploring the Ruins, now, for your little project. The door’s been locked for ages. So, unless you're a ghost or can crawl underneath the door–” She sized them both up. “–which I doubt, then forget about it.”

“What’s life like living down here?” Ryan asked.

“Life is the same as it always is.” Her face hardened. “A little claustrophobic, but…” Plum’s face softened back into a smile. “We all know deep down that freedom’s comin’, don't we? As long as we got that hope, we can all grit our teeth and face the same struggles, day after day. That’s life, ain’t it?”

Ryan hummed in the affirmative and turned off the recording. “Thank you so much for your time. I appreciate it.”

“Not a problem, bun. If you’re going to be doing more research of the town, the library’s your best bet. And if you’re going to be interviewin' folks, Ben is a good talker of politics, as well as Luci. Don't let everyone know you’re doing interviews, though; otherwise, you’ll have everyone clamorin’ for a glamor shot. Well,” she amended, “no more than Mettaton, hm? But I suppose that would be quite the feat,” she joked.

They laughed, but, at least for him, it was empty. He wondered who Mettaton was – or if it even _was_ a someone. “Thanks again,” Ryan said graciously and let Frisk pull him out of the shop after waving at Plum. The bell rang overhead and a gust of cold air smacked him in the face, and he shuddered. “It is way too cold for this,” he muttered. “I can’t believe it’s so snowy down here; it’s literally August. I mean, it wasn't exactly hot out, but still.”

Frisk hummed in agreement before stopping in the middle of the pathway. They stared at the town, almost entranced by its beauty. The sight of such a cheerful town full of information and friendly people filled him with integrity to continue his research and determination to move forward.

He blinked hard and looked down at Frisk, who was back to smiling away. “So, what are we doing?”

Ryan checked the time. “Holy shit,” he murmured to himself, before clearing his throat. “Well, we’ve been walking around for a couple of hours since we left… her house,” he said, lowering his voice. “I’d like to do some research about the underground, if you wouldn’t mind.” He didn’t want to leave Frisk alone at all, but he knew they’d get bored of just sitting around in the library. “Maybe… let’s check out the rest of the town first, and then, depending on what time it is, we can come back to the inn and get some rest before we move forward. Sound good?”

They nodded enthusiastically. “Yep!”

 _Then_ , Ryan thought to himself, _when I put Frisk down to sleep later, I can just head back out to the library and check out some books._ “Alright, kid. Oh hey, before we go chat with some people, would you mind giving me some monster gold? For some odd reason, I have a feeling they won't accept my debit card." They laughed as they handed him a bundle of gold coins. He noogied them a little bit, much to their indignation. "C'mon kid, let's go."

They walked throughout the town, meeting new townsfolk. Many were furry monsters, like Plum had said, but there was a young lizard monster that Frisk had taken a liking to and was joking around with. Ryan allowed himself a tiny smile; he was growing fond of the kid.

In the center of the town was a large Christmas tree. It was decorated with multi-colored balls and lights, and really fit in well with the aesthetic of the rest of the town. It was still disconcerting to see, however; did they celebrate Christmas? Was religion still a thing down here?

“Hey!” Ryan called, waving at the bear monster who was arranging some of the gifts underneath.

(He was decidedly not thinking about how the monster looked alarmingly like an actual polar bear. Nope. Not at all.)

He gestured at Frisk, letting them know where he was walking, and jogged up to them. He gave the bear a smile. “Hi, I’m interviewing some of the local folk about town culture and politics,” he said. It’d probably be the best way to get a good answer about any type of religious upbringing. “I was told that I should find a bear named Ben. Is that you?”

The bear chuckled, their voice a deep baritone. “No, no. Ben’s usually hanging out in front of Grillby's. I’m Bruno.”

“Ah, well, I’ll just seek him out afterwards. It’s a he?” Ryan asked.

“Yes, he is, as am I.”

“We already have something in common! Great,” he joked weakly. Bruno laughed again, calming Ryan’s nerves a little bit. He didn’t mean any harm. “Would you be willing to answer some questions about the state of affairs of the underground?”

The bear blinked sluggishly at him for a second before smiling wildly, showing off some superior canines. Ryan forced himself not to tense. He didn't mean any harm. “Why, I would love to. May I ask what this is for?”

“Research project I’m working on,” Ryan quickly said, before he realized it was the truth. No need to be nervous. None at all. “It’s part of my job,” he added.

“A journalist you are, huh? Incredible to see some other aspiring newscasters – not many get the limelight anymore with MTT around.” MTT – Mettaton. _Well, that answered my what versus who question before. No need to correct him on “journalist,” though._ Bruno’s grin widened. “Regardless, I’m happy to answer any questions you may have.”

“Alright, let me just pull out my phone. Would you mind if I recorded this conversation?”

“Not at all!”

“Alright.” He grabbed his phone and switched on the screen. Sixty-four. Yikes.

He’d have to keep it short and sweet.

Ryan pressed ‘record’. “Can I get your name and occupation?”

“The name is Bruno and I am a carpenter.”

“May I ask what you’re doing, setting up gifts around the tree?”

Bruno’s face lit up, his eyes shining suddenly as he showed Ryan – and the camera – a bright purple package with a yellow ribbon. “I’m settin’ up gifts around the Gryftmas tree, o’ course!”

“Gryftmas?”

“Ah, yes! It’s a new local tradition.” He frowned suddenly, rescinding his teeth behind a small scowl. Ryan breathed out evenly. He didn't mean any harm. “Local teens tormented a local monster by decorating its tree-like horns, so we started giving that monster presents to make it feel better. Now it’s a tradition to put presents underneath a decorated tree.”

“Why is it called ‘Gryftmas’?” Surely there had to have been some human influence.

“The local monster called Gryftrot. Jus’ seemed right. Think there was a trend goin’ on in New Home, though, about a human holiday called somethin’ similar. Dunno when that one is.”

“When is Gryftmas?”

“Gryftmas is whenever people feel in the spirit to give!” Bruno gave a jolly laugh, showing off his canines again. Ryan gave him a small grin.

“Are you familiar at all with human traditions?” Ryan asked.

He tilted his head to the side. “None that come t’ mind. Maybe ask me again later? I’ll be here all day!”

Ryan stopped recording but didn’t tuck his phone away. “Thank you for your time,” he said graciously.

“Not a problem! See that monster o’er there?” he asked, pointing a claw towards another bear monster, this one a rich mahogany color. “That there’s Ben. Big politics man. He’s a good talka.”

Ryan waved. “Thanks, bud. See you again,” he said, as he walked past the tree. Frisk was skidding up ahead, looking around some houses. He raised his voice. “Not too far, kiddo. Don't want to lose you.”

They turned and gave him a thumbs up, as they continued their journey. Ryan shook his head. That kid was a trip.

“They your cub?” someone suddenly asked, and Ryan whipped around, staring at the bear in disbelief.

_No fucking way._

“Sorry?” he asked – he didn’t squeak, goddamn it, he asked.

“They–” Ben, Ryan’s mind supplied, pointed at Frisk. “–your cub?”

“Uhh, no. Just a friend.” Ryan continued to stare at him with wide eyes and, without thinking, blurted out, “Wow, you sound exactly like Paddington.” He bit down on his lip. Idiot.

“Who?”

Ryan shook his head. “Sorry, that’s– yeah, that’s not important. It just startled me, your uh. Voice. Um. This is really not how I wanted this introduction to start…”

(There was a bear monster! With a similar color! To Paddington! That had his exact accent! What are the odds? The _chances_?!)

“If you’re supposed to be introducin’ yourself, I think it’s safe to assume we’ve never met?” he asked kindly. He held out a paw. “I’m Ben, what’s your name?”

(And! He’s a good person! Holy shit!)

He grasped his paw, careful to avoid his claws as he shook his hand. “Ryan. It’s nice to meet you.” He took a breath. “I was told you were a good person to talk to about the politics of the Underground?”

His eyes lit up and a wide smile revealed rows of sharp canines. “Really? Oho, I’d love to talk about the state of affairs!”

“That’s great! Would you mind if I recorded your answers to transcribe later?”

“Not at all!”

And that’s what Ryan and Ben did. Ryan, much more at ease around Ben (probably from a false sense of familiarity), didn't waste his time digging into his knowledge. The latter introduced himself again for the camera and went into great detail about the overall politics of the Underground, discussing the monarchy and how the King brought in different representatives of the towns to talk about the most prevalent issues in each region of the Underground.

“Personally, I wanted to run for a mayoral role, but I’m not one for responsibility,” he chortled conspiratorially.

Then he outlined the local politics, like the sudden increase of the population in Snowdin.

“Not that a rise in population is a bad thing!” he was quick to add. “When we were first sealed down here, there was an urgent worry that we would go extinct, with how little hope there was; many monsters Fell once we were banished. But now, we aren’t facing that crisis and we’re running out of room! Overcrowding is a serious problem in the capital and people are moving into our rural towns at rapid rates.”

“How have the locals responded to this?”

“Well, they’re worried! Many don't want to see an erasure of their local culture. Some city dwellers have outlined proposals to knock down some trees for housing developments, but that’s no answer either! A lot of monsters live in the forests, and then we’d be destroyin’ _their_ homes.” He shook his head. “It’s a grim situation, Ryan.”

He nodded sagely. “I’ll bet. Has there been any upsides?”

“Well…” Ben furrowed his brows in thought. “No’ necessarily, or specifically, from the developments, but crime rates have gone down.” His smile twisted a bit. “The Canine Unit is good, don't get me wrong; but they’re easy to persuade with a spare morsel, or in some cases, dog treats.” He rolled his eyes. “But now, with the Captain constantly comin’ over Snowdin to spar with the taller skeleton, monsters aren’t as willing to do any wrongdoings – and they're newer additions to the community.”

That coil of anxiety, the one he had been so fervently ignoring, tightened in his stomach again. “Captain?”

“Of the Royal Guard. She’s a fierce one, that Undyne.”

Ryan wanted to grill him about Undyne, but if she was the Captain of the Royal Guard, that would certainly rouse suspicion that he didn’t know who she was. If possible, he wanted to get to the King without any major interruptions and Undyne sounded like she’d be a _major_ interruption.

He decided to switch tracks. “And she hangs out with… Papyrus?”

The bear laughed, to Ryan’s bewilderment. “How could I forget the name, the Great Papyrus? Yeah, she does. If you’re brave enough to go near ‘em when they’re sparring, they’re quite entertaining to watch.”

Discreetly, Ryan stopped recording as he crossed his arms over his chest. He fidgeted, before asking, “What’s Papyrus like? Or, Sans? Both of them?”

Ben blinked bemusedly. “Well, they’re good monsters. Been in Snowdin since they were cubs – or, well, babybones,” he amended. “Sans is a real charmer; he can smooth-talk like the best of ‘em. Papyrus…” he hesitated, before saying, “... tries real hard. But they’re friendly and we appreciate that in such a tight knit community.”

“Neither are… malicious?”

Loud, raucous laughter echoed around the town. A few monsters looked their way, but Ryan was too startled to give any sort of reassuring smirk. “Oho, you’re givin’ me a good laugh. Papyrus certainly doesn’t have a malicious bone in his body. Sans, neither. But Sans’ll do anything to protect his brother – he’s proved that time and time again to Snowdin town.”

Ben’s mirth died down, and he looked off into the distance, a nostalgic, bittersweet grin replacing the wide smile. Ryan fidgeted again, not really knowing what to say.

Lucky for him, Ben seemed to snap out of the somber mood. “Well! Do you have any more questions for me?”

“Uh, none that I can think of right now, but I’m pretty sure we covered everything. Thank you so much for your time.”

He waved him off. “Not a problem. It was my pleasure.”

He gave him one final smile and began a slow meander, opening his phone back up. Forty-five. His face tightened as he grimaced. Fucking great. Taking video recordings always wiped out his battery. He wanted to try to record as many interviews as he could, but it just wasn’t feasible – not when he didn’t have a charger,

(He cursed the fact that he didn’t buy a portable before leaving L.A. What a dumb fucking oversight.)

He let out a harsh breath, shoving his phone into his pocket. Someone made a small “Eep!” noise next to him and he startled, taking a few steps back.

Ryan looked around, not finding anyone, before he heard another sound coming from the ground. He glanced down, and. Right there was a mouse monster. Not quite as small as a regular mouse, but probably a couple inches shorter than Frisk. They had a beanie that let their ears poke through and a long, striped scarf wrapping around their neck, the ends lying in the snow.

He wondered, not for the first time, if maybe he was finally going batshit.

Still… “Sorry about that. I didn’t see you there.”

They perked up. “Oh, it’s okay!” they said in a surprisingly mellow voice. Ryan blinked a few times. “I’m unusually short for my age.”

“How old are you?” he asked, curious, despite himself.

“Well, I know I’m still wearing stripes, but…” Red started emanating from their cheeks, their blush literally glowing around their face. Ryan stared, wide-eyed. It _had_ to be magic. “I’ve just got one more year before starting college next year! One more year before I’m out of stripes!”

“...What does stripes have to do with anything?”

They stared at him, their snout forming a small ‘o’. “Kids always wear stripes. That’s just how things are. Tradition passed down from the past prince and princess.”

His brow furrowed, and he opened his mouth to ask more, just as a sharp gust of wind swept up on the East side of town. Behind Ryan, there was a sudden tension in the air, and he startled, whipping around to watch as wind and snow began to silhouette past the main road of Snowdin, spiraling and too thick to see through. His eyes widened and he turned back to the mouse monster.

"What's happening?" he asked quickly.

"Oh, it's just a snowstorm," they replied nonchalantly. When he tilted his head – surely there weren't any real snowstorms down here – their face began to glow red again. "Sorry, forgot you're a traveler. Because of the different temperatures between Waterfall and Snowdin, magical precipitation builds up at the edge of town and, if there's any natural or unnatural disturbance, it'll cause a storm."

"Natural?" _Unnatural?_

"Usually there's a natural release of tension between the two areas once a month. We weren't expecting a storm until next week, though, so monsters must be sparring."

Ryan froze and he started scanning the area for Frisk. "Fighting is the only other way to jump start the storm?"

"No..." they replied, a sharp edge to their voice now. He could feel their eyes trained on him, but he couldn’t care less. He couldn’t find Frisk. He _didn't see them_. "That's one unnatural cause; it's just the most common."

“Thanks,” he said without a thought, before walking towards the wild winds. They didn’t try to call out after him.

Suddenly, two figures appeared within the whirling storm. Ryan froze, pushing his glasses up to the bridge of his nose, before squinting to make out who they were. It was definitely Papyrus, posing, with his scarf waving outwards like a cape, and… Frisk, clenching a fist.

Was Papyrus trying to capture Frisk while Ryan wasn’t around?

Desperation began to bubble up in his lungs, as anger sizzled in his veins, just like on the bridge. Except, this time, he wasn't there to protect them. “Kid!” he shouted, bolting towards the fight just as their soul was ripped from their chest. They turned around, their eyes wide as Ryan weaved around a few stray monsters, past the library and a couple houses. He was going to–!

“Ryan,” they called, lifting their hands in a placating manner. But he wasn’t looking at them, anymore. Papyrus was going to fight _his_ kid. When he wasn't around.

“What the hell are you doing?” he shouted at Papyrus, as soon as he caught up with them. He looked down at Frisk, seeming to be unhurt, but their soul was still out in front of their chest; they were still in a battle. He squinted, noticing the purple streak in the middle of their shirt… “They’re wearing stripes and you still want to fight them?” he accused. “A kid? How about you pick on someone your own size? Huh?”

“Ryan,” Frisk said again.

Sweat began to prickle at the base of Papyrus’ skull and his eyes seemed to dart between Frisk and Ryan. “I…”

“Let’s fight,” he demanded abruptly, and nastily. His thoughts screamed at him to _get away, run away, grab Frisk and sprint past him_ , but instead he took a single step forward. His fingers itched to grab his tripod. “You want to fight someone so much, the least you could do is fight someone who’s actually a fair match–”

“Ryan!”

“Or maybe you wanted to try to capture them while I was busy? Try to hurt them, or maim them, or _worse_ –!”

“Ryan! I started it!” burst out of Frisk, both of their hands wrapped around his wrist. When had they…? “I wanted to spar with him! He has cool bone attacks and I wanted to hang out and…”

Their voice trailed off as they pleaded at him with their eyes to believe them. Ryan blinked a few times, shaking his head. _"I started it."_ He very carefully placed his other hand on top of theirs and he took a few deep breaths, willing the wily emotions away. _"I wanted to spar with him."_ Their soul was still out, but rather than focus on the implications, he just stared at the deep, pure maroon. The emotion was suddenly swept away from him and he felt lightheaded, like he was about to fall. His eyes burned a little.

“You aren’t hurt?” he questioned, quietly.

Vehemently, they shook their head.

He looked back up at Papyrus and, with growing regret in his throat and guilt in his chest, noticed how upset he was. His grin was downturned, and he was wringing his hands in a nervous gesture, his eyes cast on the ground. Ryan took a few steps away from him, pulling his hands out of Frisk's grasp, horrified he’d lost his temper.

Horrified at his own thoughts.

He'd been tense for a while now, though. He should have seen the signs. He should have realized how close he was to the edge.

He needed–

He wanted–

“heya.”

Ryan froze.

Now he was in _real_ deep shit.

“ryan, was it? how ‘bout we go to grillbz while the kid and paps finish their sparring session?”

Very clearly, it wasn’t a request, even if it was phrased as one.

Still, Ryan turned towards Frisk as anxiety bloomed in his chest. They nodded and smiled encouragingly, relieved that he wasn’t about to attack Papyrus. (Jesus Christ, why should that be their worry?) He nodded back and replied with a small, “Alright.” His fears were not alleviated, but Ryan was outnumbered.

He turned around slowly, trying to prolong the moment as long as he could, before facing Sans.

His own permanent grin was stiff, but he wasn’t focused on Ryan yet. His hands were shoved in his pockets, in a faux-relaxed stance. “papyrus?”

“I’m… I’M OKAY, SANS.”

Ryan winced. He wasn’t.

But Sans nodded and turned towards Ryan. “c’mon. i know a shortcut.” He walked towards a bundle of trees and waited expectantly for him to follow.

Ryan hesitated, though, and looked back at Papyrus. “Sorry,” he murmured in the too loud silence of the eye of the storm, before trailing behind Sans, not waiting for a reaction.

💙

> **GRILLBY’S BAR, SNOWDIN, MOUNT EBOTT, YUKON, CANADA**

The sudden change in the atmosphere from bitter cold to cheerful warmth was almost stifling in its abruptness. He didn’t realize how chilly he was before he was already rubbing his hands together to try to unfreeze his fingers and breathing in the crisp, woodsy air like a choking man. If he closed his eyes, the warm air and the bustle of the bar reminded him of home.

Then he opened his eyes and he was right back in a bar, in the middle of Snowdin, in a forgotten mountain, in Yukon, Canada.

He let Sans lead him to a couple of empty seats at the bar without complaint.

(He snorted inwardly. Yeah, right.)

“hey grillbz,” Sans greeted the monster behind the counter. Ryan stared. The monster was made up completely of fire, the soft orange flames flickering in greeting towards Sans. He had on an almost stereotypical saloon getup, from the bow tie to the frilly sleeves to the tailored blazer. All that was amiss were the pair of glasses on his face.

Ryan wouldn’t even be able to tell he had eyes had they not been there.

He wouldn’t be able to tell if he had eyes.

Laughter bubbled up suddenly, bursting out of him. Sans and presumably Grillby stopped conversing and stared at him, which only made him laugh harder. _A human and a skeleton walk into a bar and greet a monster made of fire. The fire monster’s name is a pun..._

He threw his head back and laughed and laughed and laughed. Ryan let the hysteria take over, let out the crazed amusement out and didn’t realize it was shifting back into the crazed sadness and despair of being trapped in the underground until it was too late. He kept laughing, but tears were dripping down his cheeks and his glasses were fogging up. His head gave a loud _thunk_ as it hit the countertop as he sobbed loudly and desperately, his arms wrapped around his head as he curled in on himself.

He wanted to go home. He wanted to go home so badly it hurt to even think about. He missed his dogs and their comforting smells. He missed his dad, with his rambunctious back slaps and wide smile and bad jokes. He missed his mom and her familiar embrace and her chiding, playful voice. He missed Jake and all of his asshole tendencies. He probably took his Switch while he was gone, but he couldn’t even be mad. He didn’t want to _be_ mad. He didn’t think he could ever be mad at his family again. His cousins, who, every time they came to his house, hid his shit all over the backyard. His uncles, who never failed to make his parents smile. His aunts, always filling the house with the best smelling foods in the world. God, he wanted it all so bad. But it wasn’t just them.

He wanted Shane. He wanted to feel his arms wrap around him and hear his voice and smell his shampoo and taste that strawberry flavored chap stick he used when he kissed him. God.

Ryan’s nerves were shot, and his stomach twisted, and he sucked in breaths so harsh he thought he might heave. He just wanted to go home. Maybe if he tapped his heels together three times, he’d end up back in Kansas.

Surreptitiously, he tried doing it.

It didn’t work.

He breathed in deeply to let out another sob and realized, a bit belatedly, he was still in the bar. He froze, closing his mouth and lifted his head.

Grillby was still staring at him, but the flames on the top of his head weren’t moving. He looked around and realized none of the other patrons were moving either, some of their mouths open wide as if in the middle of talking when they were… what? Frozen? Stopped?

Everyone was at a complete standstill – all except for Sans, who was thrumming his phalanges on the tabletop. He wasn’t looking at Ryan, though; he was focused on the grainy wood. Maybe giving him a moment.

He appreciated it, even if he was horribly confused.

“...Sans?”

His eye lights flickered up. “you back with me, bucko?”

“What’s…” _wrong with everyone?_ he wanted to ask; but he didn’t. The booming bustle began again, and the bar lightened up considerably. He hadn’t realized it was dark.

“got a few _sticks_ up my sleeve,” he replied to the unspoken question, winking. “see?”

Ryan glanced down and watched, open-mouthed, as Sans pulled a twig out of his sleeve. He wheezed out a laugh and the remaining tension that was in his body bled out, leaving him feeling lighter than he’d been in ages.

“hey grillbz, can i get my usual?” Sans asked. He turned to Ryan. “you want anything?”

“You have any bourbon?” Ryan asked Grillby.

“He’s got firewhiskey!” replied a bird monster on the other side of Sans. “Strongest stuff on the menu!”

“Can I get a firewhiskey neat, then?” Ryan asked.

Grillby stared at him, before nodding solemnly. Ryan wiped his eyes as he watched him walk through a fire exit. He really needed a tissue, but hopefully he would bring napkins back when he brought Sans’ food.

“you think that’s a good idea?”

Ryan startled, confused by what Sans meant, before it dawned on him. “I think it’s a great idea,” he asserted. Sans gave him a dubious look. “I’m stressed out. Like, _really_ stressed. Crying does help, ahem, _people like me_ release some of those fucked up neurotransmitters, or whatever, but if _you_ want to give me a big bad big brother talk about almost fighting your brother, then _I_ need something to make sure _I_ don't have another meltdown.” He glanced pointedly at Sans. “I don't know what you did in here, but thank you, regardless.”

Sans shrugged. “eh. figured that would be better than try to move you somewhere else. i do have my handy shortcuts, but those have… limits.”

“What kind of limits?” Sans only grinned at him and Ryan rolled his eyes. Banter with Sans felt a bit like banter with Shane after an especially active supernatural shoot and fuck it if he wasn’t going to take comfort in that.

“so, like ya just said, i was going to give you the ‘big bad big brother talk’ but now i’m kind of just feeling sorry for you, so,” he said.

“Hey!” Ryan huffed indignantly, amused despite himself. He lowered his voice a bit. “You try falling into a mountain with a kid you just met, finding out monsters and _magic_ exists in a world that was supposed to be utterly bleak science!” Not that he’d really believed that, but he wanted to get his point across.

Sans furrowed his brow bone, his eye lights shrinking a bit. “what do you mean, not supposed to exist?”

Just then, Grillby walked back through the door, holding a tall glass of amber liquid with flames licking at the top and Sans’ food, along with plenty of napkins. He placed the tall drink in front of Ryan and watched him expectantly.

Ryan’s eyes darted between the drink and Grillby. “This is firewhiskey? It’s huge!”

Grillby tilted his head.

“Usually whenever I get a whiskey, it’s about ten times less than this,” he continued as he picked up the mug. He stared at the flames dancing prettily along the top and hoped it was just magic and that he wasn’t about to burn the shit out of his mouth.

He took a deep gulp and hummed appreciatively as warm tingles cascaded inside his mouth, down his throat. It was hot, almost boiling, as he took another sip, but it tasted amazing, almost sweet like honey on his tongue.

He let out a satisfied sigh after taking a few more sips and turned back to Sans, who was staring at him with wide eye lights.

“What?” he said, a bit self-consciously. He put down the drink and grabbed a napkin, wiping his face and blowing his nose.

He stared at Ryan, apparently amazed “i’ve never seen someone actually _enjoy_ firewhiskey,” he replied. Sans shook his skull. “let’s get back to it, though. what do you mean, monsters aren’t supposed to exist? why’d you come to mount ebott then?”

Ryan shoved the napkin in his sleeve and scratched the back of his head. “Well…

“A few weeks ago, I put out a request for filming locations for the next season of a show I run. Basically, the show alternates between True Crime and Supernatural every season; I put in a request to search for the mysterious Mount Ebott as a Supernatural episode. We’d done something similar in the past, but, out of nowhere last week, I was denied.”

Ryan scowled to himself, taking another sip of the drink. “They hadn’t even said anything about my other locations, just a hard no on Mount Ebott and some choice words about my character. And– well, I got pissed. Decided to take time off to look for the mountain. And when I started doing research, it just,” he waved his hands around, “came out of nowhere. Every time I found a lead, it led to something new, which led to something new, and suddenly I was able to narrow down my locations. And then I discovered Canyon Mountain; it had all of the requirements needed to be Mount Ebott. And who fucking knew that it actually was?”

“that doesn’t really explain why monsters shouldn’t exist.” Still, Sans looked interested.

“I’ll give you that. Okay. Well. Basically, we’re taught when we’re kids that monsters are the things we should be scared of, the things that attack us, and hide under our beds to spook us. Then, as we grow up, we learn that monsters don't exist, people exist.” Sans stared at him with small eye lights. “And the Tablets, too, are treated as a conspiracy theory, and nothing more–”

“tablets?” Sans interrupted.

“The Five Tablets of the History of Monsters and Humans.” He recited them for Sans. “Most people don't believe in any of it. I didn’t really either,” Ryan admitted, “but I was determined to find something when I was denied so self-righteously. I mean, I believe in a stray cryptid here and there, but nothing like the monster society described in the Tablets. And I guess I proved them wrong in the end, even though I personally didn’t believe. I did find something.” He took a long gulp of his firewhiskey.

"that's our history," Sans murmured. "there are more than just the 'five tablets' or whatever, though. there's _so_ much more."

Ryan let out a breath. It was what he was hoping for, but it was still such a startling realization that he was actually right. He _actually_ solved something for once.

He and Sans sat in silence for a few minutes. His head was warm, and he felt like he was swaddled in blankets, but he was surprisingly clear-headed. Maybe the drink wasn’t as alcoholic as he originally thought.

“okay, i’ll admit,” Sans piped up. “i do want to tear into you for papyrus; he’s a good monster, and he would never hurt the kid intentionally. but i can understand why you blew your lid. doesn’t justify it, by any means, but i understand. you _will_ apologize again, though.” He sent Ryan a pointed look.

He nodded. “Yeah, I can do that.” He sighed. heavily “I do feel bad about that. He kept going on about capturing a human, though, and I couldn’t take any chances. Not with that kid.”

“are they yours?” Sans asked.

He shook his head. “I only met them when we fell into the underground together. But I promised myself I would protect them; and I’m determined to.” Sans tensed slightly and Ryan frowned, not knowing what he said. He shrugged it off. “They might as well be my kid, though,” he added as an afterthought. “I feel just as protective of them as I do my baby cousins, or even my brother. ‘Course, Jake can take care of himself just fine.” He smiled to himself, before it fell flat and his eyes flickered to the untouched food sitting in front of Sans. “Eat,” he ordered Sans. His sockets went up, like he was raising his eyebrows.

“or what?”

“Or nothing. Eat. I’m sure it’s good. Then, we can talk more about everything. Sound good?”

Sans winked. “sure, buddy. sounds good.”

“Good.” Ryan took another sip and let himself relax in the comfortable atmosphere. There was still much more information he wanted to try to get out of Sans before their little hangout was over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you guys again for reading 💙 much love my dudes
> 
> [ come chat with me on tumblr](https://cleopatraslibrary.tumblr.com/)!


	6. Allies and Enemies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryan, Frisk, and the skeleton brothers bond before escaping through Waterfall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> very quickly, i have to shout out [Yuno_Magic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yuno_Magic/pseuds/Yuno_Magic) who made this awesome [fanart of Ryan and Frisk in Snowdin!](https://www.deviantart.com/yunobajanmc/art/A-Different-Fallen-Human-AO3-Fanart-840916822?ga_submit_new=10%3A1588883901) check it out, i absolutely adore it.
> 
> also, shout out to the lovely [yesi, loveontherocks](https://archiveofourown.org/users/loveontherocks/pseuds/loveontherocks) who beta-read this chapter and had to deal with me being an idiot :softe: 
> 
> i hope you enjoy!

💙

> **GRILLBY’S BAR, SNOWDIN, MOUNT EBOTT, YUKON, CANADA**

“so,” Sans started. He held his burger up to mouth and Ryan watched as he pushed it against his teeth, the food disappearing into his mouth, _somehow_. “you said that you grew up with the idea of monsters being bad that was then revealed as people being the real monsters.”

Sans chewed carefully and Ryan gave a quick head shake to focus on the topic at hand. “Yeah. Best example was a television show – _Scooby Doo_? I’ve actually read quite a few posts online about how the show was actually anti-capitalist and had a lot of subliminal messaging in who the monsters were in the end.”

Sans stared at him uncomprehendingly. “what?”

“Oh,” Ryan realized, “you probably don't have a lot of information on modern states and nations, and the different economic systems, huh? Not to mention psychology – that’s probably just a human thing. I’m not too well versed myself in politics – I just know the basics of structures from Sara.” He’d taken a few college courses, of course, but he hadn’t been interested enough to retain it and now, if he had any questions, Sara was like an encyclopedia on nation-states and international relations. Not to mention Google. “Uh, that’s– I’m getting off track. We can talk about major politics later.

“Basically, every episode of _Scooby Doo_ went the same way: a group of friends find out about a crime that seems to have been committed by supernatural means – typically, they were monsters, or ghosts, and stuff like that. They’d go investigate and lo and behold, every monster was revealed as a human, usually having their mask yanked off and the episode ending on a ‘meddling kids’ joke.”

“propaganda,” Sans muttered, before raising his voice. “hey grillbz, can you get me a bottle of ketchup?”

The fire monster nodded and went through the back door again. Ryan didn’t pay him any mind as he cast Sans a doubtful look. “I mean, sure, it’s not dissimilar to propaganda,” he concurred, “but the time frame is all wrong. You guys have been trapped down here for thousands of years—”

“thousands of years?” The look Sans shot him was truly incredulous, his eye sockets wide and the tips of his permanent smile tilted downwards. “a few centuries, yeah, but _thousands_ of years? not likely. history ain’t my strong point, but it is pap’s and he can tell you an exact timeli—” He cut himself off and started again. “he can tell you about monster history in depth. he’s cool like that.”

There was an awkward loll in the conversation. Really, Ryan didn’t know what to say. Hundreds of years instead of thousands of years completely changed the timeline of events, completely ripped away the foundation of his video. Clearly, though, any preconceived notions he had about monsters before was wrong. Grillby came back out with a bottle of ketchup, sliding it in front of Sans, before going back to cleaning his glass.

“oh man, grillbz, you know how to get a skeleton _fired_ up,” he said as he twisted off the cap and drank the bottle _in its entirety_. Ryan couldn’t help but stare in fascinated horror.

He _had_ to ask, “That’s ketchup? That’s _actually_ ketchup? That you’re drinking? You’re drinking ketchup?”

He knew he was gaping, but his brain refused to close his mouth.

“yeah?” Sans shrugged. “‘s my drink of choice.”

“You didn’t even open your mouth!”

“now why would i do that when i got some good ol’ teeth here? ‘sides, it’s magic. goes right through me.”

He looked so nonchalant as he winked that Ryan let it go, shaking his head to himself. He had bigger hills to die on. “Okay, sure. Ketchup. Magic. Okay. But we have to – I know you said Papyrus knew more, but this is a huge disparity in my theories, and would basically invalidate the video footage I’ve already recorded. There was an interview with an archaeologist who studied the Tablets in depth and said that it was impossible for the inscriptions to have been written on them recent–”

“see, there’s your mistakeyou shouldn’t be thinking ‘written;’ you should be thinking engraved. a monster most likely inscribed it by magic. doesn’t matter how old the stone is, or whatever counterpoint you’re about to bring up. let’s just say, magic trumps all.”

The absolute bastard winked again, incentivizing Ryan. “Okay then, explain the language!”

Sans’ brow bones raised. “what about it ?”

“It was found and translated in a Native American script – we were able to translate it using a Cherokee codex, but why would we be able to translate it at all if it were inscribed by mons…” Ryan trailed off, staring at the glasses on the shelves. Grillby’s fire merrily danced in their reflections. If the Tablet was inscribed by monsters and they spoke a Native American dialect... “How am I able to understand you?” he asked, carefully turning back towards Sans. If anything, all the monsters he spoke to should be incomprehensible to him.

“surprised you only just thought about it, tibia ‘nest.” Ryan scowled at him before Sans raised him arms placatingly. “monsters speak universal,” he explained. “it is, i’m afraid to say, our magic which manifests the language. if it was found written in a, you said native american script?” Ryan nodded. “then they were the first people to discover the tablets. once the magic was activated, it wasn’t going to change to another language since there was no new magic, or monster, to reactivate universal.

“we can understand all languages because of how we speak, verbal or otherwise.”

Magic was really becoming the cop out answer, huh? “Otherwise?”

“some monsters don't have mouths, or hands, or claws to sign, but if they know universal, they can still communicate with the rest of the community. you could probably read up on it at the library.”

Unease suddenly settled in the pit of Ryan’s stomach as his mind went down another – a much darker – route. He crossed his arms. “Did the other children speak different languages? Is that how you know Universal works with all languages?”

Sans’ eye lights went dark, his empty sockets filling Ryan with dread. Fuck.

_Ah, man, if he kicks my ass, I’ll deserve it twice over._

_But that isn’t exactly true in this case,_ Ryan reasoned with himself. _Sure, I deserve it for Papyrus, but it had to be common knowledge that the kids, the_ human _kids, died down here. I don't know why Sans would be affected by_ me _knowing this information._

_Unless he thought I might try to get retribution…_

Around him, the other patrons started to notice Sans’ sudden discomfort. Ryan hurriedly took a large gulp of his firewhiskey, chugging it even when the burn bordered on painful. The empty glass clinked against the glazed hardwood as he set it down and looked at Sans expectantly. Sans waved limply at the bartender.

“two refills, grillby," Sans ordered as he rubbed his phalanges against his skull. “i never met the… other ones,” he replied quietly. “but there were reports, yeah. two of them spoke different languages – the first two that fell, after the princess. but that was way before my time. the last time a human fell, i was babybones.”

Even though it felt like he was taking another step into his grave, Ryan asked, “Do you know why the children died? Or how?” Toriel said they were slain by Asgore, but…

Sans _looked_ at Ryan, then; a long, calculating glance that made the hair rise at the nape of his neck.

“they were killed by the king, for the barrier.”

Ryan blinked hard a few times. His lungs constricted and it was hard to catch his breath. He knew they died, were _killed_ , but it mustn’t have truly registered. “ _For_ the barrier?” he prodded, not really wanting the answer.

Grillby placed another firewhiskey in front of him and handed a ketchup to Sans. He nodded at the monster half-heartedly, watching Sans fiddle with the cap.

“to break it,” he finally said. “the humans had seven sorcerers enact the barrier – those seven sorcerers sacrificed their souls in order to put it in place. thus, we need seven human souls in order to destroy it.”

Sacrificed their souls?

“...How many do you have now?”

Again, Sans assessed him calculatingly. Ryan met his gaze head on, even as goosebumps raised along his skin, shivers crawling down his spine. Sweat beaded along the back of Sans’ skull as he closed his eye sockets.

(How could he even _do_ that?)

“six. we have six human souls.”

Ryan stared at him. “Well, shit.” He let out a humorless chuckle and grabbed his glass, chugging it with ease, even as the fire singed the back of his throat. If they needed seven human souls…

Even though their souls merged together in battle, Ryan and Frisk were two separate individuals. It made sense, didn’t it? They were two separate people who only just met when Flowey forced their souls out to battle. And he saw that Frisk was able to battle without him, when they were sparring with Papyrus – so that must mean it was the same vice versa. The monsters only needed one more soul in order to escape. In no way, shape, or form, was he going to allow Frisk to be murdered for monsterkind, no matter what the humans did to them. Maybe…

He downed the drink, the glass _clanking!_ hard against the counter. “Can I have another?” he asked Grillby. The bartender simply refilled it, sliding it in front of him. The beginnings of a plan began to form in Ryan’s mind. “I’m gonna get fuckin’ sloshed, dude,” he said to Sans, not waiting for a reply as he drank deeply. A small part of him demanded he quit it – _he had Frisk to worry about!_ – but the rest of him wholeheartedly disagreed. He needed this. “Humans are fucking assholes,” he added, wiping sweat from his brow as the heat of the drink travelled down his collar.

Someone shouted, “Here, here!” behind him.

💙

> **???, MOUNT EBOTT, YUKON, CANADA**

The first thing Ryan noticed was the distant rustling and tiny _clang!_ as someone muttered to themself under their breath.

Blearily, he blinked his eyes open, trying to chase the sleep away. The room was dark, and everything was fuzzy around the edges of his vision; he wasn’t wearing his glasses, he realized belatedly.

He shifted from where he was lying cockeyed, his legs hanging off the edge of the couch, and tensed when someone tightened their grasp around him. He squinted and relaxed minutely when he saw it was only Frisk, their breathing even and deep as they snoozed on top of him. A blanket was laid over the two of them, with his glasses propped on Frisk’s head, a sticky note attached to the lens.

He carefully maneuvered his arm out from underneath the blanket, pulling the glasses from their head. He snorted to himself when he read the note.

“eye know you may need these to see but eye retina you’ll be asleep for a bit. don't want to make a spectacle when ya wake up when you can’t see, so i’ll lens you a hand and put ‘em on your pupil’s head so you can catch a wink. see ya soon.”

He shook his head, smiling to himself. He let out a soft exhale, sobering as the previous day came back to him. No slewing together broken memories: he remembered everything with ease.

(Magic really was a wonderful thing, if he could get pissy drunk one day and feel energized the next.)

He’d had fun at Grillby’s. The monsters there had traded jokes with him jovially as the night wore on. Most of his attention, though, had stayed on Sans, who let loose a slew of puns once the high-tension conversation was over with. He’d offered to show him around the library, which he’d accepted merrily, belly full of liquor and skin tingling from its magical properties. The thoughts of death and terror fled his mind, instead just a drunken curiosity spurring his actions.

Ryan glanced at the tv stand. Right where he’d dropped them the night before were the stack of books he’d checked out. If he remembered correctly, he’d gotten a couple of history books, a species book, and a language book. He could do some studying now, maybe read up on the areas they were about to pass through, so they weren’t walking in blind.

_Maybe I could find that disguise I was thinking about yesterday._

He took in the rest of the room as he pondered aimlessly. Nothing really matched in the house; the walls were a dull red, while the floor was covered in a vibrant purple and blue striped carpeting. The couch was a bright green; really, he didn’t think he’d ever seen a room decorated so… eccentrically.

There was another _bang!_ in the kitchen, with a distinct, “Shit,” accompanying it, a metal lid clearly finding its home on the floor. Curious and antsy to get up, Ryan held his breath as he cradled Frisk, holding them tightly as he began to sit up. They didn’t stir as he righted himself, wincing as tingles began going up and down his legs. The blanket fell on the floor as he scooted onto the edge of the cushion.

Carefully supporting their head, Ryan twisted and laid them back down on the couch. Their face didn’t change, and their chest continued to rise and fall evenly; Frisk had stayed asleep. Ryan smiled privately as he picked up the blanket and tucked it around them, gently petting their hair before getting up.

He yawned as he stretched, his joints letting out a satisfying _pop_. _Shane would have a conniption_ , Ryan thought fondly. Another muttered curse came from the kitchen and Ryan got up, padding towards the racket.

He stopped in the doorway, slack-jawed, as he took it all in. The room was bright; orange and red tiles covered the floor, with the appliances a similar burgundy to the living room walls. A couple of pots were laying on the floor, along with that lid he heard, and Sans was on his hands and knees (carpals and patellas?), scrounging around in a cabinet. But the real eye-widening, attention-drawing spotlight of the kitchen was the sink: a good eight feet in the air, staring mockingly down at anyone who wanted to use it.

“Jesus Christ,” he said, and Sans whipped his skull up, right into the countertop, the _thunk_ echoing around them. Ryan winced.

“ow.”

“Sorry, dude. Didn’t realize you couldn’t hear me come in,” he apologized as he took a step inside. He tried to shove his hands in his jacket pockets, but instead, they just slid against his shirt awkwardly. He hadn’t realized he’d taken it off.

Feeling distinctly exposed now, Ryan folded his arms, watching Sans crawl out from underneath the sink.

“did i wake you?” Sans asked, pushing himself up. He waved his hand and the overhead light turned on. It was the first practical magic he’d seen outside of battle.

 _Yes_ , Ryan thought as he said, “No.” Sans gave him a look. “Okay, yeah, probably,” he amended, “but I _am_ a light sleeper.” No nightmares tonight, which was a relief. That would have been awkward.

Sans shrugged, and walked over to the fridge, stepping over the clutter on the floor. Ryan frowned and bent over, stacking the pots in one another, setting the lid on top. He picked them up, but he didn’t really know what to do with them, with the sink so high. He looked at Sans.

“Um.”

“you can just put ‘em on the stove,” Sans said, gesturing vaguely. “i’ll make sure to tell paps he shouldn’t be cookin’ in ‘em.”

“Alright,” he replied, doing as told. He was left with unoccupied hands, though. _Fuck._ Maybe he could just…

He slid them into his jean pockets and startled when he touched his phone. His eyes widened marginally, and he pulled it out, quickly turning on the screen. Twenty-seven percent. Yikes. And it was officially over twenty-four hours, the time reading 10:21 AM. Strange to know it was mid morning when it seemed like the middle of the night for the underground.

Strange to know that it had only been a _day_.

Ryan exhaled softly, staring at his lock screen. It was a close up of his dogs being cradled in someone’s arms, but he knew that someone was Shane. He wasn’t quite ready to have him on complete display in his phone; not when he worked in an office full of busybodies and a corporation that had him sign away his privacy rights to record videos. But looking at his fingers gently cradling his favorite pooches, Ryan couldn’t help the fond, bittersweet grin that spread across his face. God, he missed him. It had only been a day, but he missed him fiercely.

Maybe Ryan could hear his voice again, before they left the underground.

He turned off the screen and looked up at Sans, who was putting triangular-shaped paper cut outs onto a cattail. He… wasn’t going to ask. “Hey, Sans, do you think it’d be possible for me to get a phone charger from somewhere?”

Sans paused and one of his eye sockets widened, with his brow bone scrunching up. Was that his face – his _skull_? – raising an eyebrow? “charger?”

“Oh, you know, for your phone?”

Now both sockets widened, his permanent smile turning a bit more sincere. “afraid i don't know, there, ry.”

Ryan stared at him, before breathing in deeply. _He’s like a troll. Sans is like an internet troll._ “To charge your phone,” he clarified, as if talking to a child. _Frisk would know_ , he thought to himself. “You know, to recharge the battery to then _use_ it.”

Sans’ face shifted while he was talking and now, he just looked apologetic. “nah, you won’t be able to find somethin’ like that down here – none for your kind o’ phone, or any human phone. our energy is run throughout the walls of every cavern in the underground, which releases a signal to automatically replenish any lost power. we don't have to manually charge a battery.” He paused. “you might be able to find somethin’ in the dump, but it’ll probably be damaged, and you won’t be able to use it, anyways.”

Disappointed, but not quite surprised, Ryan breathed out, “Alright.” His grip tightened on his phone minisculely. “Thanks anyway.” He looked around the kitchen and his eyes landed on a plate Sans put together.

He squinted at it. The cattail was now placed in a hot dog bun and was garnished with a fuck ton of ketchup, the condiment dripping onto the plate.

“‘s a hot cat,” Sans said, startling Ryan. “want one? i’ll give you a discount,” he added, winking.

Dude had a weird thing about winking.

Ryan tucked his phone away. “Uh, no, I think I’m good. I didn’t realize cattails could grow down here.”

“cattails?”

“The fuzzy thing in your bun,” he clarified, gesturing.

Sans gave him that amused, wide socket look again. Ryan couldn’t believe he was learning how to interpret looks from a skeleton. “ah. we call ‘em ‘water sausages,’ not cattails. and yeah, they grow in waterfall, the next town over.”

“Waterfall…” Ryan repeated. Toriel’s directions came to mind. “There wouldn’t happen to be a wishing room in there, is there?”

“there is,” he confirmed. “‘s also where undyne is stationed.”

Ryan glanced sharply at Sans, but he exuded nonchalance like a second skin. Or, well, first skin? He folded his arms and leaned back against the door frame. “Yeah?” he said, cool as a cucumber. With his voice cracking mid-word and high pitched.

Yep. Cool as a cucumber. He cringed.

Sans shoved the hot cat against his teeth and chewed thoughtfully as he stared Ryan down. “uh huh. listen, there’s only one thing you need to know about undyne: she’s a good monster.” Ryan’s eyebrows raised involuntarily and the skeleton chuckled. “ no, really, she is: passionate and heroic and constantly in search of justice. you’ve got to admit, humans have wronged monsterkind.”

When he didn’t continue, Ryan nodded and said, “I mean, obviously.”

“so even if you haven’t personally wronged us, humans _have_ , and you fit in that category.”

The sentiment didn’t sit well with him, even though he understood the thought process behind it.

“you will run into undyne, there’s no doubt in my mind,” he added.

“Oh, great, that’s reassuring,” Ryan bemoaned and Sans’ grin widened.

“hey, just remember: as long as you’re determined, you’ll be able to keep moving forward. and bargaining works well, too.” He sidestepped him, walking out of the kitchen with his plate. Ryan turned and watched him leave. “you goin’ back to sleep?” Sans asked.

Ryan shook his head. “I’m gonna read up on the monster culture of Waterfall. Try to blend in with the common folk.”

“no disguise is going to trick monsters into thinking you’re a monster,” Sans informed him, and Ryan stilled.

“What?”

“everyone knows you’re a human, ry. i mean, it’s pretty obvious. you look eerily similar to the humans we were taught about in our history books, just with shorter hair and a bit taller. a disguise might be good for the kid, but you’re a lost cause, pal. ”

Ryan stared at him, his mouth agape. Sans winked again. “night. see ya in the morning.”

His vision blacked out. Ryan startled, rapidly blinking the stars out of his eyes, but Sans was already gone.

 _Internet troll_ , his mind whispered. He agreed vehemently.

💙

> **SANS AND PAPYRUS’S HOUSE, SNOWDIN, MOUNT EBOTT, YUKON, CANADA**

Since Sans completely dismantled his idea of where and what he should study first, Ryan settled on “The War of Monsters and Humans.” He picked the book up from the stack and pulled a stool out from underneath the table, settling next to a rock covered in sprinkles.

He cracked open the tome and thumbed through the first couple of pages, stopping at the Acknowledgements.

> Acknowledgements
> 
> It is of the most import that I acknowledge the leadership, warriors, and healers who ensured that monsterkind was able to live another day against the horrendous, overzealous attacks made against us by humans. I can only hope that I do our own history justice and I thank everyone who has contributed to this endeavor. It is important that our history is documented, and I am pleased to be one of its organizers.

Ryan wondered how Universal affected the articulation of a monster before skipping forward a few pages.

> Introduction
> 
> Long ago, two races ruled over Earth: monsters and humans. Monster and humankind were never particularly hostile with one another in the early years of our history. There have been accounts made by our King, as well as the Gerson, better known as “The Hammer of Justice,” that humans and monsters even exchanged goods and services while we were still on the Surface. We relied on a mutually beneficial relationship to keep the bond between our two different, yet strong civilizations united. Monsters entrusted1 humans. We could not know they were planning on betraying that trust.
> 
> Before discussing the betrayal of treaties and agreements, however, we must first categorize the stages of peace, unrest, betrayal, and war. Peace times will be discussed and recounted as the “Early Years.” Unrest between humans, _only_ humans,2 will be discussed and theorized as the “Dissenting Years.” Unrest between humans and monsters will be discussed and carefully scrutinized under the “Disquieting Years,” which will lead fast and hard into “The Seizure” and then “The War.” In this book, we will be going over these events and questioning what led to the ultimate ruin of the races’ relations. Was it due to human conflict? Or the dubious truth determining monsters and humans cannot live amicably? It is hard to believe that monsters could be capable of such malicia3, but it cannot be ruled out that humans can taint the pure intent of our SOULS.

There was potential here. Not just a rich, tragic, beautiful history, but potential that this was all real. That he wasn’t just dreaming, or hallucinating, or in a coma from that long fall.

Ryan didn’t have the bandwidth to come up with a daydream this vivid.

He skimmed the footnotes.

> 1According to King Dreemurr, there were a few trusted human leaders which were taught how to encompass the magic of their natural bodies and manipulate it to their liking. They were called “mages” by humans and monsters alike, remaining humanly in statute, yet harnessing the ultimate power of their SOUL. It is reported that they held a strong kinship with our kind. We will be discussing mages more in Chapter 8, “SOULS.”
> 
> 2To clarify, there was only one close human civilization during the Early Years. At the end of the Early Years, a second human civilization was founded and built, bleeding into the new Dissenting Years. We will theorize later as to how this second human civilization may have led to our entrapment. (See Chapter 11, “New Town.”)
> 
> 3As is common knowledge, monsters are made up of love, HOPE, and compassion. We have not quantifiable means to discover whether monsters are truly capable of the dark malicious intent necessary for warfare; a possible explanation as to why it was such a short-lived war and why humans were at a natural advantage.

He blinked and reread the passages, over and over until his eyes started to tear and the words began to bleed together.

Ryan forced himself to compartmentalize the first footnote and focus on the most pressing matter; trying to synchronize what he knew about human history with this new information.

(After taking a minute to dwell.

Humans could harness magic.

 _Holy shit._ )

If monsters were entrapped as late as he was starting to suspect, and Sans had hinted at, the second civilization might have been European colonizers; especially if there hadn’t been any issues between the “two races” previously. And it would make sense. Maybe. Except the Tablets were inscribed in a Native American scripture.

It wouldn’t really matter, though, anyway, would it? European or indigenous. Monsters were trapped either way.

Shit. He was in way over his head.

Ryan wasn’t an expert in this field – Shane would be so much better suited for this. Not that he was an expert, either, but.

He shook his head.

Shane wasn’t here. Ryan was. So maybe his approach shouldn’t be synchronizing history lessons. He should focus on what was useful to him.

He pushed his glasses up onto the bridge of his nose, looked through the index and turned to page 158. If humans could harness magic through their SOULs – not soul – then maybe Ryan could learn how to protect Frisk.

> Chapter Eight: SOULs
> 
> Why did the humans attack? Indeed, it seemed they had nothing to fear. Humans are unbelievably strong; it would take the SOUL of nearly every monster just to equal the power of a single human SOUL.
> 
> However, humans have one weakness; ironically, it is the strength of their SOUL. Its power allows it to persist outside the human body even after death. If a monster defeats a human, they can take possession of their SOUL. [ A monster with a human SOUL can become a horrible beast with unimaginable power. ](https://cleopatraslibrary.tumblr.com/post/623570867425886208)

Ryan stared down at the picture of the “horrible beast with unimaginable power.” It was off putting, definitely, but really, his eyes kept drifting down in between its legs.

It– it really looked like–

He shook his head. Nope. Nuh uh.

Pure thoughts.

(Balls. This thing definitely had balls.)

He flicked his forehead and tore his gaze away from the picture to keep reading.

> The power to take their SOULs; this is the power that the humans feared. This power has no counter. Indeed, a human cannot take a monster SOUL. When a monster dies, its SOUL disappears, and an incredible power would be needed to take the SOUL of a living monster.
> 
> There is only one exception; the SOUL of a special species of monster called BOSS monster. A BOSS monster SOUL is strong enough to persist after death if only for a few moments. A human could absorb this SOUL, but this has never happened and now it never will.
> 
> Combining the inherent power of humans SOULs and their technology built specifically for warfare, it is no surprise they easily overpowered us, and ultimately, enslaved us within Mount Ebott.

Humor forgotten, he frowned. Swallowing hard, Ryan skimmed the next few pages, before “mages” caught his attention.

> We have already discussed the role the mages played in humans’ sealment of monsterkind: they used magic we had initially taught them to imprison us beneath Mount Ebott. However, in this section, we will discuss how they were able to do it; but first, we must cover the differences between monster and human SOULs, why they’re relevant, and how this made the difference between regular humans dying and the mages creating the barrier.
> 
> The true nature of a human SOUL is a mystery. In bioturgy,1 we are…

Ryan squinted at bioturgy, before looking at the footnotes.

> 1Bioturgy: Magical life studies.

Huh. He continued.

> … taught that SOULs are the culmination of our being. This is an undeniable fact – for monsters. However, it is not easily equatable with humans, as they have physical aspects of their being which are uniquely needed to keep them alive, such as organs. Monsters, on the other hand, are made entirely of magic. If someone were to hurt a monster, the HOPE within their SOUL decreases. HOPE is sustained by magic and mindset; however, because monsters’ physicality are also made up of magic, then they can weaken quickly. If that HOPE runs out or becomes very low, it is very possible the monster will dust.
> 
> Humans are different in this aspect. The magic in their bodies do not manifest a body, like a monsters’ does; instead, the magic manifests purely in their SOUL, depicting a SOUL trait.2 This trait is the defining aspect of a human and determines how their magic may inadvertently affect their day to day life. For example, a human with KINDNESS as their soul trait may have a healing touch. If this is a normal human with no training with magic, their healing touch isn’t literal; it only means they might be able to figure out if someone is upset as soon as they are within vicinity of them, console someone a little quicker or, if they are a medical professional, they may intuitively know what is wrong with their patient.
> 
> Now if a human trained to utilize their magic – a mage – had KINDNESS as their SOUL trait, then their healing touch could become literal, depending on their level of capabilities. They could create food that has healing aspects in it to cure the sick, lightly touch a despairing friend and immediately lift their mood, or even heal themself from a life-threatening wound.
> 
> Most SOUL traits allow humans to keep themselves from the brink of death. This is truly where monsters and humans differ and why humans are so much more powerful; humans don't need magic to live but can still use it to keep themselves from dying. Their magic can live dormant for their entire lives and it will never affect them, aside from the time of their death. Monsters, however, rely on it for everything: living, eating, sparring, communicating. Monster culture is reliant on us being able to complete the most menial of tasks by magic, which isn’t necessarily bad, but puts us at a disadvantage when our opponent _isn’t_ reliant.
> 
> Mages are the only example of humans we’ve seen become reliant on magic for living. We discussed the possible political, cultural, and social pressures the seven individuals may have been under before they sacrificed themselves for the barrier in Chapter 4, but there was also another factor: magical constraint.
> 
> Magical constraint is not an issue monsters endure due to magic being our livelihood. Humans, however, can; once the magic begins to flow freely throughout their bodies, it begins to work in conjunction with their other organs. They must keep using magic or else it will build up within themselves and begin to create trauma in their heart and corrupt their SOUL. Their SOUL could potentially fracture and break from the corruption if they do not use magic for an extended period of time, which will shatter their heart. This is what began to happen with the seven mages.
> 
> In order for them to actually cast the spell, they needed to constrain their magic to build up extra power. However, this magic instead began to corrupt their SOULs and their SOUL traits. According to the Queen, who trained the seven mages, their SOUL traits were initially BRAVERY, PATIENCE, INTELLIGENCE, KINDNESS, DETERMINATION, TOLERANCE, and PERSEVERANCE. By the time the actual spell was cast, none of the monsters were able to differentiate the humans by their traits – in fact, most had changed. The strength of their magic was contributed by the magical build up and the fractures in their SOULs, allowing for the magic to flow freely and completely overpower the mages. Their own magic shattered their hearts and SOULs instantly and, as human SOULs linger after death, immediately turned the strong barrier into impenetrable.
> 
> Therefore, this is why seven human SOULs are needed to break the barrier; it took seven human SOULs to erect it.

Unable to continue, Ryan wanted to slam the book shut. He didn’t. Instead, he gently closed the book. He wished the humans had been gentle with monsters.

It was too late now.

He stared out into the room, watching the even rising and falling of Frisk’s chest underneath the blanket on the lumpy, green couch. What if monsters tried to take revenge against them? Obviously, the monsters wanted – no, _needed_ – a final SOUL for the barrier. What if they tried to hurt Frisk?

He unwittingly matched their rhythm and a peaceful knowledge fell upon him.

On his integrity, he swore to himself he would make sure they would leave the Underground and see the sun again – no matter what. On his integrity, he would see to it that they made it to Asgore, safe and sound. On his integrity, he would protect them.

His SOUL beat harmoniously in his chest.

Plus, he added to himself reassuringly, it seemed like monsters barely had the mal intent to go to war in the first place. They wouldn’t try to take revenge.

He bit his lip.

Just then, a bedroom door creaked open and slammed shut in one fluid motion. Thunderous footsteps followed, pounding down the steps, a cheerful humming getting louder.

Papyrus stomped his way through the house with a wide smile but froze upon seeing Ryan. The humming stopped. They stared at each other for a few seconds, before Ryan lifted his hand and waved.

Papyrus relaxed marginally, his smile brightening as his sockets widened. He wore carefree joy like a fitted glove and Ryan returned the grin, even as guilt began to creep back up his throat.

“GOOD MORNING!” he exclaimed, making his way over to the table. Ryan darted a quick glance at Frisk to see if Papyrus was waking them up, but they hadn’t stirred at all. That kid could probably sleep through anything, if his voice didn’t even garner a twitch.

“Mornin’,” Ryan replied quietly, nodding towards Frisk and hoping he would take the hint.

Papyrus did, the corners of his smile upturning even higher as he mimed a zipper over his teeth. He leaned over the table, past the tomes and books, and stared down at the rock that was in the same place as when Ryan initially noticed it. He put his hands on his hips and tutted disapprovingly. “SANS HAS YET TO FULFILL HIS DUTIES AS A PET OWNER!” he said, his voice not _quite_ as loud, but still a healthy yell. “THESE SPRINKLES ARE AT LEAST TWELVE HOURS OLD!”

Ryan bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing as he nodded gravely. Sweat was beginning to drip down the nape of his neck and he forced himself not to wipe it away. “Yeah, that– that can’t be good for the, uh, rock.”

Ryan was nervous.

He didn’t want to be – didn’t think the situation called for nerves. Yet, he still felt ill at ease; caught off guard.

He hoped the skeleton wouldn’t notice.

Papyrus paused his hearty inspection of the rock to study him instead, his brow bones knitted together. Ryan cleared his throat.

Of _course_ he noticed.

He met his stare head on.

(He wanted to look away, but instead, he stared directly into Papyrus’s eye sockets. Even though he didn’t have eyelights like Sans did, they didn’t feel empty or unemotive. His gaze was warm, even if it was harder to pinpoint.)

Just as the silence was becoming oppressive, Ryan blurted, “I just wanted to say, again, I’m sorry about yesterday, for the yelling and– and the threat of violence. No excuses,” he said, even though he wanted to try to justify his actions. _I just wanted to protect Frisk!_ “It was rude, and I made hasty assumptions about your character, and I– I apologize.”

“THERE’S… THERE’S NO NEED TO APOLOGIZE AGAIN! I FORGIVE YOU, HUMAN. I UNDERSTAND. I, TOO, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WOULD FEEL A STRONG URGE TO PROTECT THE SMALL HUMAN FROM ANY HARM, EVEN WITHOUT THE STRONG CONNECTION YOU TWO SHARE! CONSIDER THERE TO BE NO HARD FEELINGS!”

He was surprisingly intuitive, and Ryan didn’t try to hide how his shoulders relaxed. He gave him a small grin. “Thanks, man,” he added quietly, abashment coloring his cheeks.

( _That’s embarrassing_ , his brain supplied.

 _Fuck off_ , he replied.)

“WELL, I AM NO MAN, BUT YOU’RE VERY WELCOME!” Ryan let out a choked up little giggle, looking back up at Papyrus, who was striking a pose, his scarf thrown behind him like a cape. “SOULMATES ARE SOMETHING TO CHERISH, AS THEY ARE SO RARELY SEEN!”

Soulmates?

As in, _soulmates_?

The pit of his stomach dropped as he bodily flinched away from Papyrus. “ _What_?” he said loudly. His eyes flickered to Frisk, but again, their breathing didn’t falter.

He plowed through, either ignoring the growing panic Ryan _had_ to be emitting or oblivious to it. “YES! I MUST SAY, I DIDN’T KNOW IT WAS POSSIBLE IN HUMANS, AS THEY THEY AREN’T MADE OF PURE MAGIC. I ONLY KNOW OF ONE PAIR OF NATURAL SOULMATES AND I AM ONE OF THEM. NYEH HEH HEH! ”

Disgust and revulsion twisted through him at the thought that Frisk, this small _child_ , could be his soulmate. He didn’t know their age, but they couldn’t be more than ten. It took a minute to process what Papyrus told him, but when it did register, Ryan asked, in a small voice, “Who’s your soulmate?”

He laughed again. “WHY, SANS, OF COURSE!”

“Your… your _brother_?” The anxiety and horror were shifting into a wretched confusion and he couldn’t take these emotional turns.

“WHY YES. WE WERE ORIGINALLY A SINGLE MONSTER WHEN OUR MAGIC BEGAN TO MANIFEST AND THEN OUR SOUL SPLIT AND WE BECAME TWO SEPARATE MONSTERS! NOW WE HARBOUR A DEEP CONNECTION WHICH ALLOWS US TO KNOW EACH OTHER ON A MUCH MORE PERSONAL LEVEL THAN SUPERFICIAL FRIENDSHIPS! I AM SO VERY GLAD YOU ARE FEELING THIS WITH THE SMALL HUMAN!”

He didn’t understand what was going on and had no other choice but to ask. “So what are soulmates?”

“WELL, SOULMATES ARE MONSTERS YOU HAVE SIMILAR QUALITIES TO, OR SHARE A DEEP PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH! THERE ARE NATURAL AND CREATED SOULMATES – USUALLY NATURAL SOULMATES ARE BONDED WHEN THE ORIGINAL SOUL SPLITS IN TWO, BUT THERE ARE VERY RARE INSTANCES OF NON-FAMILY MEMBERS FORMING A NATURAL BOND WHEN THEY MEET.

“CREATED SOULMATES ARE WHEN MONSTERS CHOOSE TO BOND AND SACRIFICE SOME OF THEIR MAGIC IN ORDER TO ENACT ONE.”

Ryan frowned. So he wasn't talking about "soulmates" – he was talking about SOULmates. Natural soulmates sounded like identical twins, except– well. Magical. “So, SOULmates don't _have_ to be romantic.”

Papyrus’ browbones scrunched together. “OF COURSE NOT! MOST SOULMATES ARE FRIENDS – THOUGH I’M NOT ONE TO PRY INTO OTHERS BUSINESS.”

The turmoil immediately ceased as the relief flushed through Ryan. He laughed again, the sound quiet and lacking the frantic energy from before. He breathed out and said, “I’m glad.” He looked at Papyrus and he smiled. “Hey. Speaking of. Friends?” He held out a hand. A truce with the skeleton brothers would be great for them and winning over Papyrus was the first step.

Papyrus’ face _lit_ _up_ and his eyes appeared to focus in opposite directions. He enthusiastically grabbed Ryan’s hand and pulled him into a hug, horrifyingly bringing attention to the fact that _Papyrus was taller than him_.

“YES! FRIENDS! AND I HAVE A MARVELOUS IDEA! A SPECTACULAR SPECTACLE WHICH I KNOW WILL RAISE OUR NEWFOUND FRIENDSHIP POWER! LET’S MAKE SPAGHETTI TOGETHER!”

“You have spaghetti down here?” Ryan asked, perking up whilst still in his arms.

Somehow, Papyrus seemed even happier as he released him from the hug. “ABSOLUTELY!”

And in a flurry of bones, ingredients, and moments, that’s how Ryan found himself standing in the middle of the kitchen, watching Papyrus get ready to burn down his kitchen.

He didn’t mean that fictitiously, either.

Papyrus had _graciously_ filled a pot of water to the brim and was turning up the stove dial way past it needed to be, the fire beginning to resemble one that should be found at a campsite and _not_ in a kitchen. He had a long box of spaghetti noodles on the counter top next to it, along with quite a few fresh tomatoes and a single carrot. He was bouncing in his boots and clearly excited; Ryan almost didn’t have the heart to stop him.

But then it started to smoke, and Ryan had to intervene.

“Uhh–” He winced as his voice cracked. “Papyrus, I don't think this– as much as I’ve noticed your love for spaghetti while we were coming to Snowdin, I don't–” He fumbled through his words as the fire continued to grow, smoke starting to billow. He didn’t want to offend him, but… Ryan blurted out, “Let me show you how humans make spaghetti!” in a quick mesh of words.

“DO HUMANS MAKE SPAGHETTI DIFFERENTLY?” Papyrus asked, stepping aside to let Ryan fiddle with the stove. He turned down the dial and _thankfully_ the flame went down, even if the pot was singed. “DO THEY NOT COOK WITH ALL OF THE PASSION TO DEFEAT THEIR ENEMIES WITH?”

“Um.” _How was this his life?_ “Yes? But passion doesn’t have to be violent, or… hostile. Passion can be soft, sweet. Careful. Rough can be fun–” His cheeks flushed. “– but it’s consideration that really makes the, uh, food good.”

“OH.” Papyrus paused, a fist under his chin and a hand on his hip. “WILL YOU SHOW ME?”

“Um. Sure.”

And that’s why he did. Together, they began to cook a pot of sauce and spaghetti.

Ryan looked over the ingredients again. “Do you have any more tomatoes? Or premade tomato sauce?” He paused and tapped his cheek. “We’re going to need a smaller pot, too, along with this bigger one.”

“UHHHH, MAYBE? LET ME LOOK, HUMAN!”

“You can call me Ryan.”

“ALRIGHT, HUMAN!”

Papyrus scrounged around through the cabinets, pulling out a medium sized pot and handing it to him. Ryan dipped it into the bigger pot, filling it halfway with water, before setting it onto the right burner to boil.

“I HAVE A SMALL CAN OF ‘TOMATO PUREE,’” Papyrus called from the tall cupboard. “DOES THAT WORK?”

“Definitely! Okay, come over here; tell me how you usually make noodles.”

Papyrus stepped out and placed the can on the butcher block. He tilted his skull up and smiled brightly. “USUALLY I CRUSH THE TOMATOES COMPLETELY, TAKE OUT THE SEEDS AND THEN PUT THAT IN BOILING WATER WITH THE SPAGHETTI!”

Ryan started to laugh, but realized, with a vicious sense of certainty, that Papyrus wasn’t joking. He covered the sound with a cough and looked around. He was going to have to teach him how to make actual spaghetti.

“Well, humans have a different approach. We cook the sauce and noodles separately and, once they’re both fully cooked, combine them. It’s what tastes best, usually.” He frowned at the ingredients, running through the steps to make homemade sauce in his head; it’s been years since he actually had to make it from scratch.

No matter. They were going to make some great fucking spaghetti.

Ryan showed Papyrus what to do, explaining each step as he remembered Angelo had explained to him in the frat house.

“First, we’re going to cut off the ends and slice small slits across the skins of the tomatoes.”

“HOW DO I KNOW WHICH SIDE IS THE END IF IT’S ROUND?”

Ryan picked up one of the bigger tomatoes and pointed at the brown spots. “See how it inverts a little and how there are small brown spots in those inversions? That’s how you can tell. Sometimes, there’s little green leaves and stems attached to them, too.”

“REALLY? WOWIE!” Papyrus constantly moved around, his excitement clear in his shoulder shimmying and hand movements.

Ryan mirrored him, bouncing off of his energy with ease. “Yeah! Okay, to do this though, we’re going to need a knife. Do you mind if I use one?”

“GO RIGHT AHEAD, HUMAN!”

Ryan blinked. “I… don't have one.”

“OH! HERE!” He opened up a drawer and pulled one out from the back. It was a nice one, too; not rusted or anything, and even had a German label on it. He handed it to Ryan, handle side first, and Ryan could feel his SOUL warming as he accepted it.

(Funny that he was so in tune with it now.)

“Now, when you slice the small slits,” he grabbed a tomato and quickly cut off the ends, before setting the knife against the skin, “make sure you don't cut all the way through the tomato; it needs to be superficial so that way the skin will come off easily.” He pressed down and sliced it, before twisting it and slicing it again, carefully scoring the fruit.

“SHOULD WE TAKE THE SEEDS OUT NOW OR LATER?”

Ryan thought back and replied, “Later will be better, since we’re going to chop them up after they’re done boiling to crush them. Do you need all of the seeds?”

“YES! WATERFALL AND HIGHLAND HAVE GARDEN CENTERS THAT RELY ON CITIZENS RETURNING SEEDS AND -LINGS!”

“Ah, okay. Then yeah, it’ll be best if we wait it out. Do you want to try?” Ryan asked.

Papyrus hesitated. “WOULD… WOULD YOU DO ONE MORE? SO THAT WAY I CAN PERFECTLY REPLICATE YOUR MASTERY?”

“Sure.” Ryan repeated the process, making sure to go slow when he scored the next tomato. Then, looking up at Papyrus, he handed him the knife with the hilt pointed towards the skeleton.

Papyrus smiled wide, accepting it, and got to work on the next tomato. His movements were a little shaky, but, “You’re doing great, dude!”

Papyrus’s chest puffed out as he continued to slice. “WHY, OF COURSE I AM! I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS AND A MASTER CHEF! I EXCEL AT EVERYTHING I DO!” And true to his word, he excelled, finishing up the rest of the tomatoes in record time.

Ryan nodded approvingly. “Great! Now, we’re going to drop these tomatoes in the smaller pot of water and wait for the skins to come off and for the tomatoes to cook. As we wait for that, we’ll clean up our cooking area and get ready for the next step. Do you have a rag somewhere for the counter top?” Ryan asked, trying to discreetly shake the crude off.

“I’VE GOT IT, HUMAN!” Papyrus exclaimed, handing him his own rag for his hands while he wiped off the butcher block. “YOU’RE MUCH CLEANER THAN SANS IS!”

Ryan shrugged, though he didn’t make eye contact. “Just habit now.”

They stood in a companionable silence, Papyrus scrubbing the counter as Ryan leaned against the fridge.

Ryan forgot how peaceful cooking could be.

“HOW DO YOU KNOW HOW TO MAKE SPAGHETTI?” Papyrus suddenly asked. “DO ALL HUMANS KNOW HOW TO?”

Ryan laughed a little, charmed. “No, definitely not. I learned when I was in school and dirt poor. Usually we could just buy a jar of sauce and a box of noodles and make it pretty quick, but a few times we made it from scratch as, like, a group activity. It became a monthly tradition by our final semester.” Ryan paused and cast a sideways glance at the skeleton. If it was question time… “What about you? How do you know so much about SOULS and stuff?”

“MONSTARITIES!”

Ryan tilted his head. “Sorry?”

“MONSTARITIES! THE STUDY OF MONSTER CULTURE, LANGUAGE, AND MAGIC; VERY SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT BIOTURGY, WHICH IS THE STUDY OF MAGICAL LIFE, THOUGH I AM VERY WELL VERSED IN THAT AS WELL!”

“Like humanities.” Ryan smiled to himself. “Do you work in monstarities?”

“AH, NO, I’M AFRAID NOT. IT IS SIMPLY A PASSION THAT I’VE HAD SINCE I WAS BABYBONES, MUCH LIKE SANS AND HIS LOVE OF SCIENCE AND SPACE-TIME CONTINUUMS.” Papyrus said, ‘continuums’ like ‘cont-i-new-ums’ and Ryan couldn’t believe he ever thought Papyrus could have a malicious bone on his body. “NO, I’D MUCH RATHER GAIN A WEALTH OF ADMIRERS AS A ROYAL GUARDSMEN!”

Oh, yeah. That’s how.

“WHAT DO WE DO NEXT?”

“Now we’re going to take them out of the water and peel off the skins.”

“I THOUGHT THE SKINS CAME OFF IN THE WATER?”

“Well, some might come right off, but usually it has to be done manually. Do you have a spoon or something to take the tomatoes out–? Oh.” A dark blue hue fell over the tomatoes in the bubbling water. Ryan peeked over at Papyrus and he stood straight with a hand out, carefully guiding the tomatoes onto the counter top. He gaped as they plopped down. “That works. That definitely works!”

“WHAT NOW?”

Ryan shook his head, smiling unconsciously at Papyrus. “Right. Before we peel off the skin, we’re gonna squeeze them to get out the seeds – they should come right out.” Ryan eyed Papyrus’ gloves and said, “I’ll do this part so those,” he gestured vaguely towards his hands, “don't get dirty.”

Papyrus nodded and watched intently as Ryan rolled up his sleeves and got to work, gently squeezing the seeds out of the tomatoes and letting the goop drip onto the countertop. Then, with precision, he pulled the skin off in one swoop, dropping it next to the seeds. He set the tomatoes aside as he finished each one, lining them up. He could almost hear his roommates chanting and hollering as Angelo demonstrated how to do it for the first time and he bit back a nostalgic grin.

“Can you dump out about half of the water in the small pot?” Ryan asked, finishing up the last tomato.

“OF COURSE!”

Ryan half turned and watched again as the pot began to emanate a blue hue, lifting into the air, over the sink, by Papyrus’ magic. It tilted and water splashed against the inside of the sink bowl, before lowering right back onto the burner.

“That’s incredible,” he said quietly, looking back over at Papyrus.

“A GENUINE COMPLIMENT…” A bright orange flush glowed across Papyrus’ cheekbones. “THANK YOU, HUMAN! WHAT NEXT?”

“Now…” Ryan picked up a tomato, “we’re improvising. Usually, what we would do is just put them in the pot and let them cook down, but there’s definitely not enough tomatoes to just do that. So, we’re going to cut these up and put them back in the boiling water, and then crush them once they’ve cooked a bit more.” He poked it on the fleshy side and said, “See how it’s just beginning to soften? We’re going to try to accelerate the whole cooking process by making them smaller and increase the amount of sauce we have by adding the water. It’s not going to be a really flavorful sauce, but we know it’ll be made with passion.” He winked and Papyrus’s eyes bugged out of his head.

“NYOHOHO! SANS IS RUBBING OFF ON YOU!”

💙

> **SANS AND PAPYRUS’S HOUSE, SNOWDIN, MOUNT EBOTT, YUKON, CANADA**

“Dude, dude, dude, the spaghetti should be– We talked about this!” Ryan laughed as the bubbles began to spill over the side of the pot, the flames sizzling from the water. Papyrus stirred the noodles at a rapid pace, but Ryan made no moves to stop him, leisurely leaning against the counter top. “Less mortal enemy combat, more soft passion for cooking!”

“IT’S GETTING QUITE _STEAMY_ IN HERE MY WAY ANYWAY! NYEH HEH HEH!” he jested back, and Ryan opened his mouth in delight. If there was anything Papyrus had made clear, it was that he hated puns. Papyrus’ eye sockets widened. “NO, NO, NO, I DID NOT MEAN–! HUMAN, I BELIEVE THE PASTA IS READY!”

Ryan let it go, but only because he knew the pasta had been done for a good two minutes now. “Alright, do the magic lift-y thing and strain it in the colander into the sink so that way the noodles aren’t sitting in water.”

Papyrus did as he said and levitated the colander back down. He set it on the stove top alongside the pot and Ryan tipped some of the sauce into the bottom of the pot before pouring the noodles back in. Then, with no finesse whatsoever, he dumped the rest of the sauce on top. “Would you mind stirring?”

“NOT AT ALL!”

Papyrus mixed the noodles and sauce together, and it _actually_ smelled great, the tomatoes and oregano Papyrus had found wafting throughout the kitchen. Ryan couldn’t wait to try. He peeked outside the window, but it was still pitch-black out, with only the fairy lights lighting up the town.

They would need to leave soon. Ryan wasn’t looking forward to it.

“Do you know what time it is?” he asked.

Papyrus slowed his stirring as he looked out the window. “THE UNDERGROUND WILL BEGIN LIGHTING UP IN A LITTLE LESS THAN AN HOUR AND THEN COMPLETELY BRIGHTEN ABOUT HALF AN HOUR AFTER THAT.” At Ryan’s perplexed expression, he added, “SOME MONSTERS NEED TO SLEEP DURING THE LIGHT HOURS!”

“Ah.” He continued to stare out the window, unable to really make out the shapes of anything distinct. It was almost eerily quiet. “I should wake the kid up; we’ll need to head out soon.”

“STILL SLEEPING, ARE THEY?”

The disapproving tone made Ryan smile and he laid to rest his anxieties, at least for a few more minutes. “Yeah, afraid so.”

“WELL,” Papyrus stated, dropping the spoon into the pot. He straightened up and strode out of the kitchen, into the living room. “WE CAN’T HAVE – _SANS!_ YOU LAZYBONES!”

Ryan’s eyes widened and he quickly followed, after making sure the burner was off. There, on the couch, Frisk and Sans were laid down under the same blanket. The short skeleton only had a single eye socket cracked open, the other drooping lazily, while Frisk seemed wide awake, waving at him from where they were nestled under the covers.

Papyrus was waving his arms animatedly at them both, shouting at them. “–MORE THAN ENOUGH TIME TO SLEEP! SANS, YOU ARE ALREADY TEACHING THE SMALL HUMAN YOUR BAD HABITS!”

“sorry bro, guess we were just _bone_ tired.”

Papyrus screeched, “NYEH!” and threw a bone at the other brother. Ryan’s vision blacked out and restored quickly after, stars dancing across his vision. He muttered a curse, blinking hard a few times to clear his vision. Once the room came back into focus, he realized Sans had dodged, and was sitting on the stool Ryan had claimed earlier.

“so, what’s cookin’?” the stout skeleton asked, grinning widely at his brother.

Papyrus was a mixture of livid and prideful and his facial expressions were indescribable as they flashed across his skull. Finally, pride won out, and he said, through a clenched jaw, “SPAGHETTI MADE THE HUMAN WAY! WOULD YOU GET US SOME PLATES AND COPPERWARE?”

“‘course, bro.”

Ryan blacked out again. “Jesus Christ!” He blinked rapidly as his vision restored, but sent a feeble glare towards Sans, the unbothered bastard. “Can you warn a guy?” he said, even though he was mildly impressed that he set up the table in less than a second.

“nah.”

His eyelights were cheeky. This bastard was cheeky. The internet would eat this motherfucker up.

While Ryan was having a staring contest with Sans, Frisk had pulled out their own stool and was sitting at the table, and Papyrus was dishing out servings of the spaghetti onto the plates.

“BREAKFAST IS SERVED! HUMAN, SIT! SANS, WE HAVE GUESTS! BEHAVE YOURSELF!”

“ok, bro.”

Ryan sat down next to Frisk and shared a smile with Papyrus across the table. Both Sans and Frisk stared apprehensively at the noodles.

Ryan frowned at them, before shrugging it off. He began to eat and hummed appreciatively as the flavors hit his taste buds. A little bland, but the noodle texture was perfect, and the oregano really spruced up what would have been just watery tomato sauce. “This is great, Papyrus. You picked it up quick, too.”

He continued to eat and watched as Frisk reluctantly picked up their own fork. They twirled a tiny bit of spaghetti on the utensil and slowly lifted it to their mouth. Ryan stared at them as they seemed to count down in their head and then shoved the food in their mouth with their eyes squeezed tight. They chewed for a second, before–

“You made this?” burst out of them, their eyes popping open and landing on Papyrus. “It’s edib– it’s good! Like, really good!”

Ryan grinned as the skeleton started to blush, stuttering out a meek, “THANK YOU!”

After Frisk’s declaration, Sans didn’t seem to have any qualms about eating, either, shoving a ton of noodles on his fork and pushing it right against his teeth. The tomato sauce stained his skull as it disappeared, and he nodded. “this is _ziti_ good, bro. i’d say it’s even more than just _pasta_ -ble, but _grate_. this would be worth a pretty _penne_.”

Ryan rubbed his forehead. Frisk laughed. Papyrus shouted. “GRATE ISN’T A NOODLE! AND NONE OF THE NOODLES YOU LISTED ARE THE TYPE WE’RE EATING!”

And so, the bickering went on, the brothers bantering as they all ate. It was comfortable, and soothed Ryan’s nerves for the coming day. His mind wandered as he ate and, unsurprisingly, landed on Shane.

 _I really want to talk to him,_ he thought. Not sadly, which was quite the miracle, but just– fondly. _He’d love this. He’d love all of this._ Well. _Except for the fact that cryptids technically exist._

Ryan’s fork started scraping against the dish and he was pleasantly full. He sucked his lip into his mouth, biting on it. Maybe he could… “Do you guys have a bathroom?”

The room suddenly quieted as all three of them turned to look at Ryan. Sans was the one who replied with, “upstairs, just go all the way down the hall; it’s the first door on the right.”

“Thanks.” He hurried up, stacking his copperware on his plate and pushing his stool in, before making his way up the stairs.

Like Sans said, it was the first door on the right and was unpredictably dull compared to the rest of the house, with white tiles and pale blue walls. (Except for the bright fluorescent shower curtain, with a teal background and pink fishes on it.) He quickly closed the door and sat down on the covered toilet seat, pulling out his phone.

It lit up. It was 11:30 and his charge was at twenty one percent. His throat clogged unexpectedly, and Ryan covered his mouth as he unlocked it. His fingers shook as he started to click through the settings.

He turned off his passcode so anyone could open the phone; it wasn’t like anyone else here was going to try. Then, he sent out a few quick messages to his parents and his brother that would, hopefully, automatically go through as soon as the phone got reception.

Ryan quickly swiped out of his messages and opened the camera roll. He scanned through the media files and opened the first one he saw with Shane.

It was from a few weeks ago. Ryan clicked ‘play,’ a loud, staticky bass echoing throughout the bathroom. Hurriedly, he turned down the volume and refocused. The video was dark and poorly filmed, the camera lens pressed against Ryan’s clothes. Past Ryan readjusted, holding the camera out to capture the two of them. Bright fluorescent pink and blue lights danced across their cheeks as huddled close together in a tight embrace, Shane’s arms wrapped around his shoulders and Ryan’s around his waist. He remembered gripping onto the back of his shirt for dear life, just _wanting_. Only wanting.

Shane leaned down and whispered something in past-Ryan’s ear and his own laugh crackled through the speaker of the phone.

“What are you recording us for? You do realize we’re done with this Unsolved shoot?” Shane had said playfully, his breath tickling Ryan’s cheek. “Don’t think we can put this in the episode.”

His reply didn’t carry in the video, but Ryan had murmured softly, “Just want proof this is real.”

The camera panned down just as Shane bent down, pressing their lips together. Ryan sighed as the video offered to replay; instead, he pressed ‘Home’ and opened the camera. He started recording and said, “Hi, my name is Ryan Bergara. I work for BuzzFeed and a few days ago, I decided I was going to do a solo investigation on Mount Ebott. Well. I found it. And I can confirm it is real.”

Ryan explained everything thus far: meeting Frisk and Toriel, wandering into Snowdin, meeting the kind monster citizens. He described everything he read in the textbook about SOULs and what he had discussed with Sans. He talked about his plan and that his message shouldn’t be a warning, but a welcome message to this newly discovered race of citizens that humans had once betrayed.

He spoke until his phone went hot and the screen went dark. He stopped recording the infodump and started another video, the seconds ticking down before his phone died.

“Mom, dad, Jake, I love you. If anything happens to me, just know that simple, simple fact. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me. Take care of the pups for me.” He hesitated, before quickly adding, “Shane, I told you–”

The Apple logo came up, telling him to charge the battery, before fading to black.

“– so.”

His arm fell down limply in front of him and Ryan stared at the screen. He bit his lip before nodding to himself, taking a deep breath.

Fortifying himself, he got up and left the bathroom.

Laughter filled the walls of the house, a soft warmth touching the air. Ryan wondered if it was magic as his spirit uplifted, making it easier to smile as he reached the bottom step. He quickened his pace as he strode across the room to his backpack, hurrying to put his phone away and pulling out his jacket. He had already packed the library books before.

“so, when will you be leaving?” Sans asked as Ryan zipped up the bag.

He glanced at Frisk. They shrugged. He turned back towards Sans. “When do you think will be safest?”

“papyrus has a meeting with undyne in about half an hour. right, pap?”

Papyrus glanced at the television, perking up. “OH, YES! YOU BOTH SHOULD SKEDADDLE!”

“Would that really be the best time? We’d have to hurry.”

The brothers shared a look, before Papyrus nodded. “I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE TWO MEETINGS WITH THE CAPTAIN EVERYDAY, NOT COUNTING ADDITIONAL TRAINING SESSIONS! SHE DOESN’T BEGIN HER PATROL OF WATERFALL UNTIL AFTER OUR FIRST MORNING MEETING, WHICH IS THE ONE I WILL BE ATTENDING SOON.”

“the only other time you might be able to sneak through waterfall is tonight, but then you have to stick around in snowdin with the royal guard dogs – not to mention that some of the crystals go out at night in waterfall, so you might get trapped in the dark.”

“YOU MOST LIKELY WILL RUN INTO UNDYNE, BUT YOU CAN AT LEAST GET A HEAD START! PLUS, IT IS STILL VERY EARLY! MOST MONSTERS ARE STILL ASLEEP. YOU MAY NOT ENCOUNTER MANY AS YOU JOURNEY CONTINUES!”

Ryan nodded. It made sense to get a move on now. He pulled the jacket on, shrugging it onto his shoulders, and slung the bag onto his back. Frisk got up, too, and held out a hand. He took it, determination to continue flowing through him. Their palm was a comforting weight in his. “C’mon, kiddo,” he said. Ryan turned back to the brothers. “When we leave your house, go left and follow the path?”

“yep.”

Ryan nodded again, saying a quiet, “Alright. Ready?” he asked.

Frisk smiled. “As ever.”

Together, they strode out, Ryan’s iPhone laying forgotten in the bottom of the backpack.

💙

> **THE ENTRANCE OF WATERFALL, MOUNT EBOTT, YUKON, CANADA**

The frigid air of Snowdin warmed as they stepped through the tree line and into the narrow cavern entrance, a wide river running parallel to the pathway. Snow turned into glistening, purple stone as their footsteps echoed down the hall. Little streams of water ran down the walls, shining against the jagged, rough rock.

It was as lovely as it was terrifying. Ryan was transfixed by the beauty.

Up ahead was a sentry station and a rushing waterfall. A glowing turquoise flower stood next to the white wood. Ryan tightened his hold onto Frisk, before he noticed a ratty blue hoodie and a closed socket wink.

“Seriously, dude. Can all monsters teleport or what? And isn’t your sentry station in Snowdin?”

The bastard shrugged. “what, you haven’t seen a guy with two jobs before? i’m a monster of many _tele_ -nts.”

Frisk giggled as Ryan seriously contemplated throttling the skeleton. BuzzFeed had recently been putting him and Keith in a few videos together and he was having flashbacks. “Okay, bye, nice to see you, again,” he said, marching away. From the corner of his vision, Frisk waved.

“just keep going along the path!” Sans called back. Ryan threw him a thumbs up, not wanting to be totally rude, but Jesus. He could pun. _He could annoy._

Ryan snorted to himself before slowing, staring at the rushing waterfall pouring out of an above cavern. A box was situated in front of it, but he didn’t bother reading the sign as he studied the rushing water. It was a dark purple, just like the cavern walls; maybe it was just really clear.

“I think we go right through,” Frisk prompted, and Ryan blinked, looking down at them.

“Do you want me to carry you?” he asked seriously. They shook their head no and Ryan shrugged. “Fair enough. C’mon, let’s just run through. It shouldn't be that steep.”

He was right; the water was only about ankle deep, but seeped right through his boots. He stopped himself from grimacing, not wanting to soil the tranquility of the cavern.

The rocky floor turned into compact dirt with seedlings of grass and seaweed growing up into high stalks. They walked right through, beating around the bushes with ease until the woodland died down, leaving the same stone path from before.

A crevice in the walls split open, with pale pink flower buds growing in the cracks. Frisk let go of his hand as he read the sign above it. “‘When four Bridge Seeds align, they will sprout in the water.’” He squinted at it, before turning towards Frisk. “Where’s the–?”

Knelt down in front of a docile stream just up ahead, Frisk placed a seedling into the water and pushed it forward. It bloomed, wide enough to create a foothold above the water. And if their names were correct, sturdy enough to hold up the weight of a person.

Or a monster.

A monster that was made up entirely of magic.

Monsters couldn’t weigh that much.

Hell, _Frisk_ couldn’t weigh that much.

Ryan sucked his lip into his mouth, even as he picked up his own seedling and aligned it with the first one Frisk placed. They set afloat the final two and then crossed the path with no issue.

Still, Ryan hesitated.

He eyed the ledge and the length of the stream – about six feet. He could jump that. He could jump that easily.

Sliding the bookbag off his shoulders, he tossed it across the bridge towards the kid. “I don't think it’s sturdy enough to hold my weight, so I’m just going to jump it.” Before they could reply, Ryan had already backed up a meter and made a running start, lifting his arms to help balance himself as he leaped.

He made the jump easily, landing deftly on the pads of his feet. He shot a grin at Frisk and they beamed, excitedly handing his bag to him.

“How’d you learn how to do that?” they asked as he slung it back over his shoulders.

Ryan shrugged. “We used to do those kinds of things in grade school, but I’ve been getting back into the habit of going to the gym. Work a lot on my calf muscles and upper body strength.” He didn’t mention that an executive had hinted that getting in better shape may help his view count. Ryan disliked that he’d listened to him and _hated_ that it was true.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts as they continued down the path.

“It felt like a chore at first, but I really do enjoy it nowadays,” he admitted. “Helps my anxiety, helps me sleep better; especially if I’m at it for hours.”

The path tightened around them before a new cavern opened up, the purple stone glistening all around them with crystals embedded in the ceilings. Streams of water went in every direction and, in the far-left corner, past a small waterfall, was a tiny door frame made of a dark wood.

Ryan and Frisk crossed a tiny wooden bridge and glanced around. There were more Bridge Seedlings on the ground, along with misty aqua mushrooms squeaking every so often. Ryan looked over the soil and the water, looking for a clear place for him to just jump over.

He didn’t need to look far.

“Hey, look. There’s a clear footpath over here,” Ryan said. There was a thin patch of land that was just barely disconnected from the other side and he easily stepped over the water. He turned back around to see Frisk loitering around the Bridge Seedlings. They were on a time crunch to get out of Waterfall as quickly as possible, but… “Do you want to complete the puzzle?” he asked, hating himself a little bit. It would hinder the progress they could make.

Frisk stared at the seedlings on the ground, before reluctantly shaking their head no. They hurried over to him and held up their arms. Ryan picked them up and plopped them down. He noogied their head a bit and they smiled.

“C’mon, kid, let’s keep going.”

Frisk led the way through the door and Ryan ducked his head, the world going black before–

The crystals began to glow up above them prettily as they entered the new cave, aqua shining down on them like fluorescents.

The cavern was dark, but Frisk was still clearly visible to him. Despite that, when he reached out, they didn’t hesitate to grab his hand. A sign was written on the wall, the words “WISHING ROOM” engraved in an elegant script.

 _Toriel is still helping us, after all_ , he thought.

Glowing flowers, the same color and brightness as the crystals, lined the path, as Frisk led him down the left turn, through a natural archway. The flowers seemed to whisper to one another, and Ryan quickly looked away.

They stepped onto wooden planks, similar to a boardwalk. The water was dark, but there were more signs lining the walls; again, glowing just as the crystals on the ceiling.

Ryan paused, squinting at the words, before realizing it was what he’d read in the book before. When they were cooking, Papyrus had talked about how monsters chose to honor their history, by retelling it and making monuments of it, but this was the first real glimpse he’d seen of those memorials.

Frisk tugged on his hand. “We can come back later,” they said assuringly and he blinked.

His stomach twisted a bit. “Alright, kid,” he replied, not bothering to correct them. They marched onwards, before they were forced to stop by the water.

It was dark and settled ominously, with a few cattails spread throughout. A small plank of wood sat at the edge of the dock, as if it were a boat. He could see the dock from the other side, but it was a long stretch of water. At least thirty feet.

“Pick me up,” Frisk said. Ryan startled, looking down at them.

“Uh, sure.” He lifted them up by their waist and swung them high up, settling them around his neck. He grabbed their ankles.

“Now walk forward,” they said confidently.

Walk forward? “Kid, we’ll end up in the water and if we have to swim across, I’d rather–” They pinched his ear and he winced. “What the–?”

“Trust me. Stay determined and we’ll make it across.”

Ryan’s SOUL pounded comfortingly in his chest. He blinked, slowly this time, and breathed out. Stay determined. Right.

He took a step forward onto the plank, tensing and tightening his grip on them. He had to make sure to lift them above his head if they fell into the water. He had no idea how high the water was. He didn’t even know if there was a bottom. He didn’t know if they could swim. He didn’t know–

“Ryan. Focus.”

Their voice softened and he breathed in.

Out.

He took another step forward.

The plank stayed under his feet.

He frowned at it and took another step forward.

Stubbornly, _blessedly_ , the plank stayed beneath his feet.

His mouth opened before he took another few steps, turning his head incredulously as the plank separated from the dock. He laughed. “Holy shit!” he said, his voice echoing around them. A minute ago, it would have felt eerie, listening to his voice bounce off of the cavern roof but now it was just – _spectacular_.

Despite the amazing-ness of magic, what the _fuck_ , he still hurried to get across, no longer stalling. He hopped off the wood plank as soon as they reached the other dock and Ryan watched with wide eyes and a giddy smile as it crossed the river again. He knelt down and let Frisk slide off his shoulders.

“See!” they exclaimed as soon as their feet touched the wood. “I told you!”

“Sans did say magic was the cop out for everything down here,” he said, unable to hold back a grin. Frisk’s eyes gleamed in the soft lighting.

“He’s right. C’mon!” They grabbed his hand and they continued down the path.

💙

> **WATERFALL, MOUNT EBOTT, YUKON, CANADA**

A low buzzing was just beginning thrum throughout the cavern walls when they saw Sans standing next to a telescope. He was smiling widely at them, his eyelights bright with mischief.

“heya. i’m thinking about getting into the telescope business. it’s normally 50,000 gold pieces to use this premium telescope.” He winked. “but since i know you, i’ll give you boths a go for free. howzabout it?”

“Are you everywhere?” Ryan asked, just as Frisk said, “Sure!”

Ryan sighed as Frisk focused on the eyepiece. “I can’t see anything,” they said, pulling away. Ryan’s eyes widened and he huffed out a laugh, before trying to stifle it. “What?” they demanded, before touching their eye lid and pulling away red ink. They glared at Sans.

“what, you aren’t satisfied? don't worry.” He _winked_! “i’ll give you a full refund.”

Ryan wheezed, even as Frisk turned their glare onto him. “Hey, I’m not the one who fell for it, kiddo.” He patted their head and Frisk pushed his hand away, pouting mutinously. Ryan bit his lip before sharing a glance with Sans. “Hey, where do we go from here?”

“just make a right up at that bridge up there and follow the path. as long as you keep heading east, you know you’re going in the right direction.”

“Thanks!”

Frisk started leaving without him. He snickered, before actually taking in the new surroundings. Holy shit.

The caverns were wide and dark, completely indistinguishable from a nighttime sky, seemingly endless with no walls; but the water was dazzling. A luminescent aqua, the streams and rivers glowed ethereally, with strands of cattails growing in droves and lily pads lazily drifting on the surface.

Frisk walked down the path Sans pointed them towards and, just as Ryan hurried to catch up, due East caught his eye.

“Hold on!” he called, before jogging up ahead, past the small bridge.

Two peninsulas faced one another, with about fifteen feet of water in between the two. On the other side was a tiny yellow bird and, after he pushed his glasses higher up the bridge of his nose, Ryan could see a village.

If there was a village on the other side…

“What?” Frisk asked, yanking at his hand to pull him out of his reverie. “We have to go.”

“I know, but…”

He wouldn’t be able to jump it; Ryan would have to swim across. And if it weren’t the right direction, then they’d be stuck.

He looked back at Sans and called out to him. “Hey! Are we heading towards that village if we go around the path you pointed out?”

Sans blinked at him, before wandering over with his hands in his pockets. “yeah, you’ll end up there eventually,” he said. “hey kid, why don't you give paps a call?”

“You have Papyrus’s phone number?” he asked, before immediately being shushed as the kid dialed. Great.

Frisk described the room to Papyrus, and he responded exuberantly, if not coherently. Frisk nodded and thanked him before saying, “The little bird likes to carry people across.”

Ryan waited for the punchline, but none came. "Papyrus said that the bird likes to carry people across?" Ryan repeated incredulously. Frisk nodded and he frowned, turning it over in his head. “Okay, well, I’m getting across.”

"But the little bird isn't on this side," they argued, watching him with wide eyes. "How would we get to the other side?"

Ryan didn't reply, tilting his head as he studied the bright aqua water. The stream couldn't be any wider than the fifteen feet he initially thought of; the water was relatively still, but he couldn't tell how deep – or shallow – it may be, because of its effervescent glow. He edged closer, crouching down and gently tapping the surface, sending little ripples across it.

It was warm, surprisingly, like the ocean at the height of summer.

Mind made up, he stood back up and pulled off the backpack. He could feel Frisk's eyes on him as he began to strip, shrugging off his jacket and rolling it up tightly. Then he did the same to his shirt, unbuttoning it and folding it compactly so it would fit in the bag.

"What are you doing?" they asked, alarmed, as he knelt to untie the laces in his boots.

"I'm going to cross," he answered calmly. He pulled them off, with his socks. Ryan debated on whether to take off his jeans before deciding he wasn't going to scar the kid. He unzipped the bag and started packing up the clothes.

"What? You can't cross!"

He paused from where he was arranging the contents of the bag to look at Frisk impassively. "Why not?"

That seemed to stump them. "I– I don't know," they admitted. "You can't swim?"

Ryan laughed and went back to his task. "I grew up in Los Angeles, Frisk. You might want to try harder than that."

“What if the current sweeps you away?”

He zipped up the bag and set it down next to Frisk. “The water is still. Listen, this is going to save us a lot of time, kid. If we can get out of here without alerting Undyne, then we want to go as soon as possible. And if she expects us to be going down that path,” he pointed at the dark path, so very clearly out of the way, “then she’ll be slowed down. It’s the best way and I’m willing to take a little risk.”

Ryan took a deep breath and braced himself, before sitting down on the ledge, delicately dropping legs into the water.

The water seeped right through his jeans, but it was warm and comfortable, almost like a bath. He scooted further in, trying to feel around for a bottom, to no avail. He could hear Frisk whispering furiously with Sans, but then he lost his grip. He fell forward, splashing heavily, before steadying himself, the stream only chest high.

They both went silent behind him and he turned around. “Hand me my bag?” he asked, and Frisk did it silently with their mouth open and their brows furrowed. He lifted it above his head and continued forward, careful that he continued to step on fortified, if rocky, surface beneath him. _Stay determined_ , he thought, and his SOUL pulsed.

As soon as he got close enough, Ryan threw the bag onto the peninsula and pulled himself up, kneeling onto the smooth black stone. The bird looked at him with wide, intelligent eyes, and he asked quietly, “Could you gather my friend across the water? They’re in the blue and purple stripes.”

The bird flapped its wings, before making its way across in the air, towards the short pair across the riverbank. “You good to fly?” he joked at Frisk and they gave him a thumbs up.

As the bird did its thing, Ryan pulled his boots, socks, and button up out, quickly redressing so they could get a move on. His shirt clung to his skin and he knew the boots would make a disgusting squelching sound as he walked, but Ryan was relieved and ready to get the hell out of Waterfall.

He left his collar unbuttoned and glanced up, his eyes widening as he caught sight of Frisk. He stifled a laugh. The bird had grabbed them by their sweater and was carrying them above the water at a snail speed; thankfully, already close by. He zipped up his backpack and slung it onto his shoulders, just as Frisk’s feet hit land.

“Thanks, dude,” he said, patting the bird’s head. It hopped back and forth excitedly, and Ryan grinned at it, before looking around. It was just like the entrance of Waterfall, with dark purple stone, just less jagged and dry. “Do we just keep going straight?” he asked Sans, who was staring at the proceedings with wide eye sockets, and a tilted smile.

“yep. you’re gonna go through a change of biomes but just keep headin’ down this path. you’ll eventually meet a dead end, but right before it, take a left, then a right, cross a bridge, and go through the high caverns. there’s only one way through, unless you plan on swimming again, so just take that path. you’ll hit hotland as long as you keep going east.”

Ryan inhaled, nodding slightly. Frisk grabbed his hand. “Alright. See you, Sans.”

“Bye Sans!” Frisk added, waving exuberantly.

Neither waited for a response before they started down the cavern.

It was wide and spacious, but short, the ceiling only a couple of feet over Ryan’s head. The houses all had their own carved out pathways, but from what Ryan could see, the houses were odd. They were all shaped strangely, the designs eccentric with bright colors and patterns. Ryan ducked his head as they passed, trying to stay away from the line of sight.

Not really any use.

A wooden sign was stationed at one of the pathways, just before where Sans said to go.

“North: Brook Acres; East: Hotland; umm, three question marks: Temmie Village,” Frisk read aloud. “Hm. Should we try to find Temmie Village?”

“Maybe later, kiddo,” he said non-committedly. He doubted they would ever come back through here again, but hey, he wasn’t about to say that to the kid. “C’mon.”

The cave narrowed as they stepped through the hall. They walked past a crossroads, Ryan’s grip on Frisk tightening as the cavern started to darken. The same aqua flowers from before began to sprout again, emitting an ethereal glow up ahead, along with more inscriptions of monster history on the wall.

“Wait a sec,” he said, pausing to read one of the signs. He could only barely make out the script.

‘Hurt, beaten, and fearful for our lives, we surrendered to the humans. Seven of their greatest magicians sealed us underground with a magic spell. Anything can enter through the seal, but only beings with a powerful SOUL can leave.’

Goosebumps raised on the backs of his arms, but he didn’t shy away. Continuing forward with Frisk, he read the signs to himself as they stepped through the shallow streams.

‘There is only one way to reverse the spell. If a huge power, equivalent to seven human SOULs, attacks the barrier, it will be destroyed.”

The petals of the flowers whispered to one another as they walked through the water, echoing around them.

‘But this cursed place has no entrances or exits. There is no way a human could come here. We will remain trapped down here forever.’

The hall opened, an endless black surrounding them, just like before. Crystals sparkled down on them from the ceiling, along with high trees. They crackled and shined with the same zeal as the flowers. Yet, the floor was dark and indistinguishable. Ryan tried to take a step forward, but he was blocked by some unseen barrier. Where do they go?

Frisk started pulling on his hand, through an empty space. “This way,” they said confidently.

“What? Can you—can you see?” he asked, dumbfounded as they began to weave through the rocks with ease. He shouldn’t have wasted his battery life.

“Mhm.”

Together, they maneuvered their way through the dark, with new purple crystals glowing every so often in the middle of the room.

Something tapped Ryan’s shoulder and he glanced behind him, yelping and putting himself in front of Frisk as a tall monster smiled down at them dopily.

“HOI! I’M TEMMIE!”

Ryan and Frisk’s SOULs popped out, combined once again as they faced the new monster. It was bright white, with four ears and black hair styled in a bob, and they watched as its legs grew longer and longer, until it towered over both of them.

“Hello,” Frisk said calmly.

“HOI! I’M TEMMIE!”

Temmie charged at them, shaking rapidly. Ryan nudged Frisk out of the way and ducked beneath Temmie’s legs, guiding their SOULs over its head.

The monster didn’t stop running, instead leaping through the rest of the cavern with ease. Their SOULs rescinded and the room lightened a little bit, so that Ryan could see the path, even if it was still very indistinct. There was only a little bit further to go before they passed through another hall.

They stepped down into a shallow pond and Ryan blinked as a new left turn opened, with glistening crystals lining the walkway. He looked up ahead; all that was there was a sprig of seaweed and a lone, aqua flower.

“This is it,” he murmured quietly, before a wide grin broke out across his face. “This is it! This is the dead end! Let’s go, let’s get out of Waterfall!”

They both began a brisk pace, moving through the hall with long strides and thoughtless glances. Yellow petals began to blow across the caverns as they approached their next turn. Ryan caught sight of a sign, barely pausing to read it, but shuddering, nonetheless.

‘However … There is a prophecy. The Angel, the one who has seen the Surface. They will return. And the underground will go empty.’

They turned and the bridge was _right there_ , made of a light purple wood. It looked sturdy, but just like the Bridge Seedlings, who knew how much weight it could actually hold?

“Go ahead of me,” Ryan suggested. “That way you can run up ahead. I’ll be right behind you.”

Frisk hesitated, before nodding slowly, easily making their way across it.

Ryan took a deep breath and stepped forward, testing to see if it would wobble. It didn’t and he steadied himself as he continued a careful pace forward.

The whispers of the flowers behind them suddenly quieted, leaving the cavern devoid of sound. The grin died on his face and he inhaled. Slowly, Ryan turned himself backwards on the bridge, continuing to walk towards Frisk, but keeping an eye on the cavern hall they just passed through.

A scream echoed down the corridor and Ryan’s eyes widened as metal clanking accompanied it.

“Ryan! We have to go!” Frisk shouted and he didn’t hesitate to run across the rest of the bridge, safety be damned.

Four bright spears cut in front of them, just as they were about to go through another high cavern entrance.

Fuck.

They were too late.

“NOT so fast!”

The cavern darkened around them and their SOULs were ripped out of the chest. The dark blue of Ryan’s own SOUL became an army green, while Frisk’s stayed the same.

A monster stormed up to them in full armor, wielding another spear. Her scales were a dark blue, her eye – the other one was covered with an eye patch – was a pale yellow, and her fiery red hair whipped around her from her own cascading magic.

“Seven. Seven human SOULs are what we need to destroy the barrier and free ourselves. We have already acquired six.” The spears dissipated next to them, and she manifested them again, this time, pointing them all at Ryan. “You’re standing in the way of our hopes and dreams! I can feel our hearts pounding together as one! Everyone’s been waiting their whole lives for this moment. But we’re not nervous at all.

“Humans! Let’s end this! Once and for all!”

Ryan stood stock still, staring at Undyne, the Captain of the Royal Guard. He didn’t move a muscle. Instead, he tilted his head, and said, “Run.”

“What? Ry—”

Patience lost, and fucking terrified, he shouted, “I said run, kid! Go!”

Frisk hesitated, before swiping their SOUL away from Ryan’s and bolting, the red dissipating completely, and leaving a pure green SOUL.

Loud music blasted throughout the cavern and Ryan flinched hard, curling in on himself as his senses were overwhelmed. He gasped hard and looked up, his eyes widening as he took in his surroundings.

Undyne wasn’t in color anymore. She was pure black and white, with no greys or shading, and in front of him were four tangible options, hovering in a warm orange.

[FIGHT] [ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]

What the fuck?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you guys so much for reading! i appreciate the support i receive and i'm so happy so many of you are enjoying the story! 💙 much love my dudes
> 
> [ come chat with me on tumblr](https://cleopatraslibrary.tumblr.com/)!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Please leave me comments and feedback - I'd love to hear what you think. 
> 
> [ Come scream with me on Tumblr](https://cleopatraslibrary.tumblr.com/)!


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